


Losing Control

by KhaSterek, sisforsterek



Series: Mind Control [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Stiles, Background Allison Argent/Scott McCall - Freeform, Background Jackson Whittemore/Lydia Martin - Freeform, Blood, Canon-like descriptions of violence, Claudia wasn’t human, Derek has trust issues, Derek is a softy at heart, Discussion of past Derek/Kate, Discussion of past Derek/Paige, First Kiss, John is supportive, John knows about supernatural things, M/M, Mates, Non-Human Stiles, Season 1 Re-write, Series, Sheriff’s name is John, Slow Build, Stilinski Family Feels, True Mates, alternative universe, canon character death, stiles is understanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-06 19:47:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20512490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KhaSterek/pseuds/KhaSterek, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sisforsterek/pseuds/sisforsterek
Summary: Sterek-centric retelling of Teen Wolf, with a few changes to a few characters, and how that changes the canon version of events."Are you ashamed of what you are?" The wolf says, already getting up from his place on the couch beside Stiles."Of course not!" He says. Because he really, really isn't. It's the only thing connecting him with his mother, and he could never be ashamed of that."What then?" Derek asks, angrily.“I want so badly not to have to hide who I really am, Derek, what I really am, but it’s out of my hands,” Stiles says, feeling his eyes sting from unshed tears.





	1. Normal Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Rating for later chapters. This will start out very much like canon, with a few details changed, but after the first few chapters, the story will take off in a different direction (with much less summarizing,) with some things the same as canon and other things happening completely different. Just remember when reading that Sterek is the endgame.  
While neither of us really like Scott’s character in canon, we know that Stiles does, so we’ve tried our hardest to be nice to him in our version. ;)
> 
> Also, part 1 of the series is finished, and our plan is to post a chapter each day, unless something comes up.

It's the first day of the semester, and Scott is catching Stiles up on what happened the previous night, after the Sheriff had caught Stiles while they were out looking for the other half of the body in the preserve. Stiles' eyes widen in surprise when Scott tells Stiles that something  _ bit _ him. 

"Okay, let's see this thing," Stiles says as he tries to hide the sick feeling at the pit of his stomach because of the smell coming from Scott. Then Scott raises his shirt, and yep, it's definitely a werewolf bite. He hides his panic with a disgusted grimace. Then Scott goes on about wolves and howls, and he has to try to convince Scott that it wasn't a wolf.  _ Please let it be from a rogue omega. _

He laughs, hiding his nervousness. "Because California doesn't have wolves, okay?" He stops and looks at his best friend seriously. "Not in like 60 years."

Scott seems to buy it, so he takes that as a win, and then the conversation shifts to other things. Stiles exhales in relief, just in time to see the beautiful strawberry-blonde walking towards them.  _ Time to act like a normal boy again _ , so he makes a little comment about his  _ famous _ crush, and they get on with their school day as usual.

-

Stiles is trying to hide his nervousness, as across from him, his best friend smells like another predator, and not just any other, a wolf. It's faint, but Stiles knows what a werewolf smells like, thank you, Talia Hale. But maybe he's just being paranoid, and the smell is only from the bite. After all, Scott isn't healed; there was blood on the bandage. 

The class falls silent as the teacher asks for their attention. Stiles hears a phone ring outside the school and follows the noise.  _ New girl, _ he thinks as he hears the girl's conversation with her mother. She's telling her that she forgot to bring a pen to school. He keeps listening as the girl whines then hangs up to talk with the principal. A moment later, the new girl is walking into his classroom. When his eyes land on her, he sees that not only his but also Scott's eyes are following her as she walks after the principal.

The man introduces  _ Allison _ to the class, and she quickly goes to her seat that just happens to be right behind Scott. Without saying anything, and with a goofy smile on his face, Scott turns around and hands the girl a pen. 

Stiles frowns.  _ Did Scott hear her? _

-

After practice, Scott tells Stiles that he's going back to the preserve to search for his inhaler that he dropped last night. Stiles had watched as throughout the practice, Scott made impossible saves. Not even Jackson has played this good before. If Stiles wasn't sure previously, he's almost certain now that Scott was bitten by an alpha werewolf. So Stiles decides to tag along to further observe his best friend, and when Scott starts telling Stiles about his new enhanced sense, he's sure it was the right choice. Then he jokes that it sounds like his friend is a werewolf, trying to hide that he knows precisely what is happening to Scott and how nervous he is about it. 

Scott suddenly stops walking and says, "I think I dropped it somewhere around here," as he bends down to search for his inhaler.

Stiles is looking around the clearing when he spots a tall, dark-haired, handsome man walking their way. He's dressed in a leather jacket and wearing a scowl. And if Stiles didn't already know that he is gay, now would be the time to put his sexuality into question, because  _ damn _ ! That man is attractive, even with his hard features, or rather because of them.

"What are you doing here? Huh? This is private property," the man says.

"Uh, sorry man. We didn't know," Stiles replies. He's almost afraid to make eye contact with the angry-looking man.

"We were just looking for something," Scott adds.

Then the man tosses Scott his inhaler. Stiles wonders how he knew that Scott was looking for his inhaler. As Stiles ponders about it, it hits him, and he realizes that the guy is Derek Hale, and he's not only a werewolf, but Talia Hale's son. As Derek turns around and walks back in the direction he came from, even though he knows the werewolf can hear him, Stiles tells Scott some of what he knows about the angry man. Stiles remembers that Derek is only a few years older than them, and how his family all burned to death in a fire about six years ago. He recalls because his mother died not long after, and then Stiles was all alone in his supernatural world. Don't get him wrong, he loves his father to death, and the man has been trying really hard to make him feel comfortable, but he doesn't fully understand what it is like to be something more than human. 

"I wonder why he's back," Scott says.

Stiles wonders if maybe he's the alpha who bit Scott. If the werewolf is the alpha, then he has to be dealt with, because he can't just go around biting people without their consent. Talia would never do something like that, and she and Claudia made sure Stiles knew that and that he had to live by the same standards. 

-

When Stiles gets home, he's surprised to see his dad's cruiser in the driveway. He parks next to him and heads inside, finding his dad at the kitchen table with case files spread out in front of him. It's a normal scene for Stiles to come home to, though.

"Hey Dad, I need to tell you something, and I need some advice. It's important," Stiles says as he sits down in the chair next to his father. Before his dad can say he's busy, Stiles adds, "It's about the supernatural."

The Sheriff immediately stops what he's doing to fully pay attention to him, like he always does in this type of situation. It makes Stiles' heart swell with love for his father.

"I'm listening," his dad says.

"Scott was with me last night. I know, I know, okay, but I didn't want to get him into trouble, so I lied." He sighs. "But dad, he was bitten by an alpha werewolf, and now he's changing, and I don't know what to do," Stiles says. "Should I tell him what I am? He's going to find out about the supernatural world now. There's no way to stop it."

The Sheriff closes his eyes, rubbing his face, then exhales. "Look Stiles, I know how much Scott means to you, but I can't let you do that. You know how dangerous it is. You know what happened with your mother, I cannot lose you too." 

"But Dad, it's Scott. He's my brother! I've wanted to tell him for so long." Stiles protests.

"The answer is no, Stiles," the Sheriff says as if there's no more room for discussion.

"Fine," he says, defeated. “You should know, Derek Hale is back in town. I saw him in the preserve when I went to help Scott look for his inhaler after lacrosse practice," Stiles tells him as he gets up out of the chair, ready to head up to his room and start working on the homework he received in class today.

"Stay out of the preserve, Stiles. It's not safe," his father tells him with a long, suffering sigh.

-

After the fiasco at Lacrosse practice, when Stiles tried to tell Scott that the police station found wolf hair on the body in the woods, to try and make Scott believe him about the whole werewolf thing, Stiles is on his computer in his room, trying to pull up some sort of research he can use to convince Scott that he is a werewolf. Because even though he made up his mind that he won't be telling his best friend about himself, Stiles wants Scott to be aware of what he is now, so he can learn how to control himself and be safe from hunters. 

Stiles is deep into his research when Scott shows up in his room. He was so focused that he hadn't heard his friend approaching, until the newly turned werewolf knocked on his door. Scott is excited.

"I'm going to a party with Allison tonight," Scott tells him.

It's too close to the full moon. Stiles has to stop him.

"Scott, you can't do that. You were bitten by an alpha werewolf. The enhanced senses you have? The amazing lacrosse moves you've been pulling off? That's because you're a werewolf now. You're going to shift on the full moon, but you can also shift if your pulse gets elevated, you know, like dancing with an attractive girl might cause? You can also shift if you're angry," Stiles tells him, exasperatedly.

"I'm not a werewolf, Stiles," Scott says, his voice exudes amusement.

"Scott, I'm not joking with you. If you go to that party, you might hurt Allison!" Stiles is in Scott's face now, yelling. He knows it would be so much easier if he could just show Scott what he is, but he's afraid that Scott might not forgive him for keeping a secret this big from him for all these years. 

Scott pushes Stiles across the room and crowds him against the wall, arm raised ready to punch Stiles, all before Stiles can even blink. He is so accustomed to being a klutzy little human that Scott takes him by surprise, but Stiles isn't scared. He knows he can put up a fight if he has to, but he doesn't want to have to do that with his best friend. They just stare at each other for a moment, neither speaking, before Scott moves away from Stiles and leaves the room without saying anything else.

-

Derek Feels like an absolute psychopath  _ and _ a stalker while he follows the new pup all over town to make sure that the teenager won't harm anyone in his wake. When he came to Beacon Hills after his sister,  _ that _ was not what he had in mind whatsoever. God, he can't catch a break. It's like his life is a freak show. And he's so mad at himself for letting Laura come by herself; this is all his fault. Derek is not even allowed to mourn his sister, his alpha. 

After he buried half of her body, the police wanted to question him. And isn't that a kick in the balls; he's a suspect in his own sister's murder. And now he is outside a teenager's party, looming just at the gate like a fucking creeper. 

Derek tries to communicate with the new wolf with his eyes, but it looks like the pup is on a mission to ignore him and his own newfound powers. What is his life that he needs to babysit a kid in order to make him safe? 

Not long after, he hides himself to look from afar. The pup clearly starts to feel the pull of the moon as he dances with his girlfriend. And Derek has to follow the couple as they walk away from the party, which is a good thing, because his ears can't take the loud music and all the voices from the party for much longer.

What isn't good though, is that Scott is clearly out of his mind, and the girl he was with, follows him calling his name. The werewolf has to step up and talk with the girl to help the stubborn pup. 

He takes her home and has to bite his tongue and take a deep breath when he finds the girl's house with her directions, because as soon as he arrives there, Derek knows who this Allison girl is. Or rather from which  _ family _ she is from. On a whim, he climbs out of the car and quickly follows her scent to her window. The werewolf enters her bedroom and snatches up the jacket she was wearing at the party. He needs to lure the young werewolf far away from the Argent's house; hopefully, this will do the trick. Otherwise, the pup might end up dead on his very first full moon. 

-

Derek's plan to lure Scott away from Allison works, but only halfway, because in attracting him away from Allison, he lures him right into the path of hunters. It looks like he's going to have to save this dumbass teenager again. At least Scott takes a hunter's arrow. This could work to help convince the boy to stay away from Allison. 

Instead, the boy screams at Derek, refusing to accept that the bite is a gift. He's acting as if his new abilities are a curse, instead of a blessing. Derek already cannot stand this idiot, and can't believe he's going to have to continue to watch over him to protect him from himself, just to make sure werewolves stay hidden from humans.

Derek doesn't bother correcting the pup. Doesn't matter who bit the kid; they have to stick together now, even if he doesn't want to. So he tells the pup they are brothers now and leaves, hoping that Scott will let him help without too much fuss.

-

Hearing the word  _ hunter _ makes Stiles' spine vibrate with a hard shudder that he quickly stops before Scott can see it. The fear that creeps in in waves, he can't hide as much, but he figures that Scott's fear permeating through the air makes his own smell like it's coming from the same source. He doesn't know which one of them is more afraid, to be honest. Stiles has never been so grateful that Scott is not so quick on the uptake. 

Scott starts to freak out, because not only are there hunters after him, but one hunter is his girlfriend's father. The good part is that Stiles quickly recovers himself to comfort his brother.

It doesn't seem to help very much, because not long after his best friend is losing his shit in the field, and he has to drag his werewolf ass away from their classmates. And apparently Derek Hale is creeping by the Lacrosse field again as he rushes Scott out of there. Though Stiles doesn't know if this last part is annoying or comforting because if Scott went crazy in the middle of a bunch of people, and someone  _ had _ to step in and use strength, he much prefers this person  _ not _ being himself. So there's  _ that. _

Stiles curses as he scrambles all over the locker room, trying to find something to stop his werewolf friend from maiming him. Not that he's afraid of said werewolf, being a supernatural creature himself, but damn it, Scott is making it difficult for him to hide his powers these days, and Stiles is losing his patience.

When he finally manages to make Scott surface from his daze, he is pissed off, so he rips his friend a new one and hopes that Scott drops this self-centeredness that he has going on lately.

-

After Derek witnessed the pup losing control of his shift at lacrosse practice, he had decided to pay him a visit in the boy's bedroom. He told Scott that he better not play in the lacrosse game, trying to scare him into submission. 

Derek had left Scott's room the other day, smelling fear wafting off the boy and was hopeful that he had convinced the new werewolf to sit out the game. But now the older werewolf is surprised to hear the pup's voice calling his name in rage from the front yard. 

Returning Allison's jacket may not have been Derek's smartest move, he thinks, as he's confronted with the angry pup standing on his property, yelling at him to stay away from Allison. Derek tries to reason with the kid about the girl and her family. But Scott is clearly blind. He can only hope that after everything he told the kid that could happen at the game, the little brat will actually listen to him. The older werewolf will be there anyway, to watch out for both of them. Because if Scott fucks this up,  _ he's _ also a target for the hunters, not to mention the human population. What was this alpha thinking? Biting a kid like that and just letting Scott run around without supervision.

Scott glances at the place where Derek buried the part of his sister's body he'd been able to find. He hopes that the boy will stay out of it as he watches the pup leaving unhappily.

-

Stiles listens as Scott excitedly tells him that he smelled blood on Derek's property, and that he thinks there's a body buried there. Stiles is quick to think of something to keep Scott from confronting Derek. If Derek really did kill someone and buried the body, then he's dangerous, and he has to protect his friend.

"I'll tell my dad. He can pay a visit to Derek and just happen to have the station's K-9 with him. The dog will smell if there's fresh blood," Stiles tells him.

"Okay," Scott agrees, then goes on happily saying that if they can lose Derek, then he can play Lacrosse Saturday.

Stiles doesn't say anything, but he's pretty annoyed with Scott. The guy doesn't think of consequences. He only cares about his new popularity and Allison. It's irritating. Especially because Stiles could have been first line for years, but he knows the risk of drawing attention to oneself, and popularity is not worth it. But his friend seems to not care about his own safety.

Stiles leaves Scott's house and heads to his Jeep, immediately calling his father.  _ Better get this over with. _ He drives a little too fast to get out of hearing range from Scott while the phone rings.

"Sheriff station, how can I help you?" Deputy Graeme answers.

"Hey Tara, it's Stiles. Is my father there?" he says.

"Yes, hold on," she says, and the line goes silent.

After a moment, the Sheriff answers. "What do you need? I'm at work." 

"Scott thinks the other half of the body is buried on Derek's property. He smelled blood and saw a fresh pile of dirt. Can you take the K-9 out and check it out?" Stiles says without a proper greeting. He's in a hurry, so there's no time for pleasantries.

"Ah hell. I guess I have to," his dad agrees.

"Thanks, Dad," Stiles says and hangs up, thinking he's done his part.

-

Derek hears a car pull up outside his house and waits in place to find out if it's a friend or foe. He hears a door open and then slam shut, then another door opening, and picks up one human heartbeat and one animal heartbeat. They walk around the property for a while before someone calls out his name. He's getting ready to make a run for it, since hunters often bring dogs with them to help track scents, when the person introduces their self as the Sheriff, Sheriff Stilinski.

"Is there a reason you're here?" Derek asks bluntly as he steps out onto his porch.

"A concerned citizen reported that you might have a body buried on your property," the Sheriff replies. 

"Scott Mccall," he says, crossing his arms. 

"No." The man's heart doesn't falter. "Do you have or not have a body buried on your property? I think you should stop and think before answering me. I knew your mother, and I really wouldn't like to arrest her son."

He frowns. "From where did you know my mother?" Derek thinks that maybe this man knows more than he's letting on.

"Look son, I'm here to help you, so why don't you let me do that?" the Sheriff says honestly.

Derek's whole body is hard with the thought of trusting this man, but something about him calls to Derek. Maybe the amount of confidence he is exuding. He hesitates for a while and is grateful the man in front of him waits. 

"That's my sister's body, or the half of it I found. I buried her the way she always wanted, in the place she wanted. I can't let you take her."

The Sheriff doesn't even flinch when he hears it's his sister.

"Flash your eyes for me, kid," the Sheriff says.

"What?" Derek frowns, confused.

"You heard me." 

"How?" Derek asks.

"Your mother trusted me," is the only reply he gets.

The werewolf doesn't know what it is about this man, but he feels safe. He flashes his blue eyes at him and waits with his heart beating fast.

The Sheriff sighs. "I know why your eyes are blue, and I know they'd be red if you killed your sister. But I can't let you keep her body buried on your property. Not yet. It can't be found here. That makes you look guilty, and I think you don't want that as much as I don't. Because I'd have to arrest you, and that will only halt the investigation to find out who actually did kill your sister. We're going to have to dig her up and put her back where you found her. When the investigation is over, I promise you will get her body back. Her whole body."

Derek nods, resigned to go along with the Sheriff's plan. 

And then they start to dig up her body.

-

Stiles is finishing his homework when his father gets home that night. He leaps up and walks out of his room to greet his dad. 

"Hey kiddo," John says from the fridge, where he is grabbing leftovers.

"Hi dad," Stiles answers as he sits at the kitchen table to give his father company as the older man eats. "How was it? With the werewolf."

The Sheriff puts his food in the microwave and turns to look at his son. "Scott was right. There was a body there."

Stiles sighs, running a hand over his buzzcut. "So Derek is the killer then? Good thing I didn't let Scott handle this himself. Is he in custody? Did you arrest him? Did you identify the body?" He goes on without taking a breath.

"Stiles, Stiles, breathe between sentences, son. Jesus," his father says, then adds, "No I didn't arrest him, and no, he's not the killer."

"How do you  _ know _ ?"

John makes a face and crosses his arms. "First of all, I shouldn't even be discussing this with you, and second, don't underestimate me. I'm the Sheriff of this town, and I'm pretty good at my job."

Stiles smiles fondly. "Yes you are. You are the best Sheriff there is!"

"Okay, flattery won't get you anywhere, but since this is a supernatural matter, I'm telling you," his father says amused.

Stiles waits as his dad grabs the food after the beep and settles down at the head of the table just beside him. When John starts eating and doesn't promptly give him the goodies about Derek, he says. "Come on, daddio! Don't leave me waiting here. Tell me what you know!"

The Sheriff stops munching on his food with an annoyed face and doesn't finish swallowing to answer. "Can I eat Stiles? I just got home."

Stiles makes a go-ahead gesture and waits, tapping his fingers impatiently on the table. His father finishes swallowing and takes a sip from his drink before turning to his son. Stiles is sure his father is doing it on purpose to make him wait more, but he doesn't say anything, afraid that if he does, then John will take even longer to answer him.

Then finally his father tells him all about his meeting with Derek, between taking bites of his supper. Stiles feels a little guilty. The older werewolf is as much of a victim as Scott, even though he looks like a murderer. Derek is even more alone than he thought. 

After his father goes to his room, Stiles calls Scott to update him on the buried body situation. He hopes Scott hasn't figured out how to tell if someone is lying by their heartbeat yet, when he tells him that it wasn't a body buried on Derek's property. He says it was animal blood. Apparently, Derek killed a deer and buried the carcass, after he cut the meat off the bones, so that it wouldn't attract other predators. He knows that if he tells Scott the truth, Scott won't understand and will think Derek is guilty.


	2. Not Obi-Wan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and subscription, it means a lot to us! s2

Stiles listens to Scott describe his vivid dream of attacking Allison in a school bus only minutes before they come face to face with an actual bloody school bus. Even after Scott finds out that Allison is okay, he agrees to go to Derek for help with controlling the shift. Stiles says he'll go with him, saying that it's so he can learn to help Scott, but if he's being honest with himself, he also won't pass up a chance to get to know the older werewolf better, now that he knows he didn't kill the girl, who happens to be his sister, Laura Hale, or bite Scott. And now knowing that it was Derek's sister, he's even a little ashamed of thinking the guy was the killer. The poor guy has no one else apart from a comatose uncle. Stiles knows how lonely it can be. 

-

After school, both boys find their way to the ruined Hale house to ask for the older werewolf's help. Stiles doesn't understand what the hell Derek is doing there; the house doesn't even have a roof. Where does Derek even sleep? It's not like there was a single salvageable item after the fire. Or was there? He makes a note to himself to investigate this. Maybe Derek also needs help.

Stiles observes as Scott tells Derek about his dream and his fear of hurting people. He has to laugh though, when Derek calls Scott out for saying that he's actually afraid of hurting Allison, like the older werewolf can’t see right through that. 

But then Stiles is shocked when Derek tells Scott that he needs to go back to the bus and use his senses to try to remember what happened. What is Derek doing? Even he knows that this isn't going to help with his shift. Scott needs an anchor, but Stiles can't tell him that; it must be Derek.

"That's it?" Stiles asks incredulously, and a little pissed off, if he is being honest.

"What do you mean  _ that's it _ ?" Derek replies, clearly put out.

"You're supposed to help him with controlling the shift, and all you tell him to do is go sniff out a school bus?"  _ What's wrong with you? _ He thinks of adding, but doesn't. "You are not the Obi-Wan he needs right now!" Stiles shoots back.

"Obi-what?" Scott asks, with that confused puppy face of his.

"Scott, seriously! Just watch Star Wars already!" Stiles screams.

Derek rolls his eyes and says, "If he doesn't remember what happened, he will never be able to control it," as if he is speaking to a child. "Besides, I can't show him. He has to see it for himself."

"Fine," Stiles says and then turns to Scott, "Let's go."

-

After the boys left his house, Derek tries to think what it was about Stiles' scent that made his hairs raise. He could clearly smell another predator, but he can't pinpoint which. Definitely something he never came across before. Not that he knows a lot of other supernatural beings. He was never the one to ask his mother these type of things. Laura would identify what he was smelling. He sighs.

Derek is pondering what the Stilinski kid is while he pumps gas into the Camaro, when suddenly he's being surrounded by hunters. He smells them before hearing them, the scent of wolfsbane thick in the air. It makes him sick to his stomach. Derek's only in town to find out what happened to his sister, and now to deal with the rogue alpha, but it's going to be even harder with hunters harassing him. He despises them, all that hunter disgrace. They say the hunters have a code, but it's just a bunch of bullshit just to keep their honor intact. 

He stares at Argent as the man speaks in riddles to him, as if he is an almighty hunter and Derek should be scared of him. It's disgusting. But he keeps his composure, observing.

"... that's something I learned from my family. You don't have much of that these days." Argent is saying.

_ And it's all your family's fault _ goes unsaid. Derek has to tap into his anchor not to jump that bastard right the fuck now.

Chris Argent keeps taunting him, as if waiting to see if Derek will lose control and shift, but Derek is not going to give him the satisfaction. If only Argent knew that anger is his anchor, so the more the hunter taunts him, the easier it is to control his shift.

The werewolf finishes at the gas station and drives to the hospital to ask a few questions to the bus driver. 

The man is in bad shape, but Derek really needs some answers. After all, this might be the reason Laura came back to this forsaken town. He's surprised to find out that this man knows him for some reason, but he can't get an answer from the guy. The man keeps on apologizing over and over, and it makes Derek nervous, so he just leaves after realizing he isn't going to get any answers from the bus driver.

As he's exiting the hospital, Derek hears the man's heartbeat speeding up and then stop. He sighs and hangs his head, clutching the door handle of his car. Another body count to his list. The alpha had been the one inflicting the wounds, but Derek is the one that can't find Laura's murderer.

It's past midnight when Derek is on the trail of the alpha, and he is close to catching up to it when a bullet hits him in the arm. The sudden pain causes him to miscalculate his jump, and he falls off a building. He's able to crawl into an alley for cover. After a few minutes, he can tell that his body isn't healing, which means it's some kind of wolfsbane bullet. He curses.

A car pulls up, and he hears two people talking, a man and a woman.  _ Hunters. _ Based on their conversation, the woman is the one who shot him. He's sure it's Chris and Kate Argent—the woman who burned his family's house down. Derek would recognize her voice anywhere; his whole body shakes with rage with that woman's voice. If she's back in town, then she's after the alpha, and more than likely to finish the job from six years ago too. 

He decides to lie low until he can figure out what to do. Hunting the alpha will have to be put off for another time. The werewolf knows he needs to get ahold of another bullet to counteract the poison flooding his veins. He decides he should probably start by finding out if Kate is staying with the rest of the Argents. If so, he's not sure how he'll be able to sneak in to steal a bullet, but maybe Scott can find a way in, since he's friendly with Chris Argent's daughter. He'll just have to wait until after school. Hopefully, he won't die until then. 

Derek tries to get some sleep while he waits, but it's hard to come by due to the pain and sickness from the poison. And of course the cold hard ground from where he is hiding is no fun either, but he can't get back to the house or his car for that matter.  _ Too risky _ .

-

Derek is too weak and unable to focus enough to find Scott when he enters the school, but he does see someone who is on the lacrosse team with him. The boy's name is Jackson; he remembers hearing the coach yelling the name. When he approaches the boy, Jackson says he won't help him unless Derek tells him what he's selling Scott. The werewolf frowns, confused. Does the boy think he's a drug dealer? _ What an idiot _ . Derek doesn't have the time to waste arguing with this jerk, so he tries to walk away, but the guy gets in his way. Derek ignores Jackson's babbling about steroids and again tries to go away. Then the human idiot grabs him, full of arrogance. He instinctively clutches the boy back and turns him around, sinking his claws into the boy's neck and pinning him to the locker. He widens his eyes as he realizes what he has done and quickly pulls his claws out of the human's neck before running away. 

The hallways have cleared out by now, and there isn't as much noise, so Derek can focus enough to pick out a conversation between the Argent girl and a friend of hers. He finds out that Scott is planning to go to her house after school, which means he'll be able to get the bullet Derek needs. He decides to wait by the parking lot to catch the younger werewolf after school. It can't come fast enough, because his condition is continuously getting worse.

He finds Stiles first, and even though he was keeping his distance from the unknown predator, Derek can't help but want his help more than Scott's. At least this one seems more mature.

-

Stiles screeches his Jeep to a halt as Derek Hale walks in front of it while he's trying to pull out of the school parking lot. The werewolf falls to the ground seconds later. 

Stiles quickly gets out of the car as he smells sickness in the air.  _ It's obviously coming from the older werewolf collapsed on the ground. _ He bends down in front of Derek, just in time for Scott to get there too.

Derek tells them that he's been shot with a special kind of bullet that is preventing him from being able to heal the wound. Even though Stiles knows it's probably wolfsbane, he says, "Silver bullet?" to look ignorant. Derek doesn't take his little question in kind, and Stiles is sure he can hear a faint outraged growl when the guy tells him off on it.

Scott keeps on talking with the older werewolf, and Stiles starts to get nervous because he can see that Derek is barely in control of his shift, but he can't say anything, and what would he say anyway? 

Horns start sounding everywhere as the students want to get out of the parking lot, and the Jeep is blocking the way. "Scott get him into my car," he says reluctantly, but looking around as the line behind his Jeep keeps growing, he sees no other alternative.

Derek tells Scott that he'll need to find one of the bullets when he goes to the Argents' house. Scott reluctantly agrees and leaves.

Stiles hopes Scott hurries. One, because Derek doesn't look so good, and two, he really doesn’t want to be in close vicinity so the werewolf can pick up his scent and know that he isn't so human after all. 

"Try not to bleed on my seats, okay?" He barks at the werewolf. Stiles doesn't mean to be rude, but he's on edge, okay? There's another predator inside his car. "We're almost at your house."

The werewolf tells him that he can't take him there, because he won't be able to protect himself. Stiles wonders why he didn't think of that himself, and that guilt feeling crawls in again.  _ Fuck it. _ Derek probably has his scent anyway, so he decides that he can take him to his own house, and changes his course.

At his house, he leads Derek through the back door, where it'll be easier to mop up the blood that is slowly dripping down the beta's arm and onto the floor.

"Do you have an electric knife or some sort of power saw?" Derek asks once they're inside and sitting in the kitchen.

"Uh, maybe in the garage?" Stiles answers, unsure.

"Look for one," Derek instructs him.

"Why?" Stiles asks, always the curious one.

"Because if Scott can't get that bullet, you're going to have to cut off my arm," Derek tells him.

Stiles pauses, thinks about cutting off Derek's arm, and almost vomits. 

"Stiles!" Derek says, voice full of frustration.

"Okay, okay, I'll look! Jesus." Stiles says as he leaves the kitchen.

-

When Stiles brings back an electric knife that his dad uses to filet the fish he catches on fishing trips, he asks Derek if his arm will grow back if he has to cut it off. Because he knows weres can heal pretty quickly, but to grow a whole limb? He had never heard of this.

"I think," Derek answers.

"You think?" Stiles asks, disdainfully.

Derek just shoots him a glare.

Stiles ignores him and texts Scott to ask him what is taking so long. Scott doesn't reply immediately, so Stiles starts to pace.

"So why did Kate Argent shoot you?" Stiles asks.

"I was chasing the alpha. It had just attacked her car. Maybe she thought I was the alpha, or maybe she knew it was me," Derek explains, and his features harden. "We have a history. She's a hunter who doesn't follow the code. She murdered my family by burning my house to the ground."

Stiles gapes, he knew that the fire was caused by hunters, of course, but he's surprised that Derek just told him like that. Something shifts in him with the werewolf's confession. Not like trust or anything, but softer. He doesn't let it show, and says, "And you sent Scott into the house of hunters who don't follow the code?".

"First of all, I didn't send him anywhere. He was already  _ going _ ," Derek says the last part with a snarl. "And second, Scott will be fine as long as he keeps his cool. There's no way they know that Scott was bitten."

Stiles rubs his face, grunting. "Okay, if you know that Kate burned your house down, why didn't you tell the police?" He asks, even though he knows it's not that simple with these things. But again, pretending to be human here.

Derek glares at him again, harder this time. Stiles didn't even know someone could scowl that hard. "Because I had no proof. And I couldn't exactly say  _ hey I know who killed my werewolf family. It was a werewolf hunter who hates all werewolves _ ," Derek says sarcastically.

"So we'll find proof. She can't get away with this!" Stiles says. He's getting worked up, and he knows it's because of what happened to his mother, that just like the Hale family's fire, had no suspects.

The werewolf shakes his head and says, "Laura tried okay; just leave it." He gets up from the seat and slumps down on the floor, leaning against the wall.

Derek looks worse and worse by the minute, and Stiles feels sick with the thought of the wolf dead in his kitchen. He sends another text to Scott, telling him to hurry up.

By the time his best friend arrives, he has the electric knife in hand while Derek's arm is stretched out atop the table. The were is yelling at him to just cut his arm off already, and Stiles is praying for whatever God that exists not to make him do this.

Then Derek faints on them just as Scott hands him the bullet. Stiles hurries to his side on the floor and tries to shake him awake. Everything happens so fast; he can't even think; he’s just acting on instinct when he punches the guy with his very inhuman strength. It does the trick, so he's okay with that, for now.

Derek doesn't even acknowledge him, quickly grabbing the bullet again from Scott's hand and doing what he has to do with it.

Stiles can't help but stare in both amazement of the situation and the beautiful torso squirming on the ground. Yes he's a little ashamed okay, but he's a teenage boy, what can he say? There's a hot shirtless werewolf in front of him. He licks his lips and hopes to God that he isn't giving off any trace of arousal at this moment. 

"Are you okay?" Scott asks, concerned.

"Except for the agonizing pain?" Derek answers sarcastically, and a little irritated, it seems. 

"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health." Stiles jokes only to be glared at. He's not bothered though. He's seen a lot of glares since he first met the werewolf, and it doesn't get to him.

Scott opens his mouth to talk with the older werewolf, and a bunch of mean shit comes out of it. Stiles can see the hurt in Derek's eyes when he's compared with the hunters.

Immediately, Stiles hits Scott behind the head. "The Argents were responsible for the fire I told you about six years ago, dumbass. There were children in that house, dude! How can you tell him the hunters are nicer than him?"

"My entire family is dead, Scott, except for my uncle who is a vegetable in a coma in the hospital, and he probably will be for the rest of his sad life," Derek says angrily.

Scott has the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry man. I didn't know."

"Yeah," Stiles mutters.

"Look I gotta go. My mom needs me to pick her up. Talk to you tomorrow," Scott says and grabs his stuff to leave.


	3. Familiar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who is taking a chance on a WIP and leaving kudos! Feel free to leave comments, as well! <3

Stiles is hanging out with his father when their supper inside the cruiser is cut short. An emergency call comes through the car's radio, and they have to go to the video rental store so the sheriff can manage the crime scene. John doesn't let him get out of the car, knowing that Stiles is too curious for his own good.

After a while of trying to hear everything that is going on the outside, he gets sick of waiting inside the car and opens the door so that he can hear better. And that's when he smells  _ him _ . He doesn't dwell on the fact that he already knows the guy's scent from afar. It's disconcerting. He shrugs it off and scans the scene with his eyes, but doesn't find anything around him, so he focuses further. That's when he hears a heartbeat coming from above the commotion. Then he locates the werewolf on the rooftop, watching everything from up there. Nobody seems to be paying attention to him other than Stiles. Okay, no one has a reason to look at the roof late at night, when there's so much fuss in front of the store. 

Derek seems to pick up on his stare, and their eyes meet. He swallows. The man frowns deeply at him and cocks his head to the side as if wondering how Stiles found him.  _ Oh shit. _ His curiosity will get him killed one day, he swears. But now there isn't a reason to look away since he had been caught already. 

"It's the alpha, isn't it? That's why you're here too?" he says quietly, without breaking eye contact.

For a while Stiles thinks the werewolf won't answer, but then Derek nods curtly and turns around, vanishing into the night.

It doesn't take long for his father to ask for a deputy to take him home, so he can work without being concerned with his nosy kid.

-

When Derek watches Stiles enter the house alone, he quickly goes around to the side and climbs up to the teenager's window, sliding it open and slipping inside before the boy even makes it to the top of the stairs.

As soon as Stiles steps into the room, Derek is grabbing him by the front of his jacket and slamming him against the wall by the door. "What the fuck are you?" he barks in the teen's face angrily.

"Jesus, fuck! What are you doing in my room?" Stiles answers as he gasps in Derek's grip.

"Answer the question, Stiles!" the werewolf says, pushing into the teen further with his clenched hands. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," the boy yells, squirming in his grasp.

Derek can hear the lie, but that's not the only thing he notices. The boy is starting to smell of arousal, and that throws Derek off for a moment. He shakes his head, confused why his body is responding to it, because it has been so many years since he felt something like that; he was even starting to think he was asexual. "You're lying. I can hear your heartbeat, Stiles!" he says, flashing his eyes and hoping that maybe he can make Stiles fear him.

The boy looks at him defiantly, and he can still smell the boy's arousal as he says more confident than a 16–year-old boy should in the face of a werewolf, "I'm not afraid of you, Derek."

The werewolf doesn't know what is more unnerving, the fact that he's responding to the smell or the fact that the kid is telling the truth. _ Why is this boy so frustrating? _

"No, you're not," he says, then smirks, looking from the boy's eyes to his mouth, "But you feel something, don't you?" Then he steps back.

Stiles licks his lips and says, "I don't know what you're talking about, wolfman. You're being very vague. Also creepy. What are you doing in my room?"

"You're still lying to me, but I will eventually find out." With that, Derek leaves the same way he came in. He can try again another day when he's not getting hard from the scent of the boy alone. 

-

Going back to the high school hadn't been something that Derek looked forward to doing, but he needed to find out if Jackson could give him any details that would be helpful in identifying the alpha. Of course, the boy had been completely useless, claiming he didn't see anything. Though there was something about those bright blue eyes that were so damn familiar, he hadn't noticed the first time, due to the wolfsbane poisoning, Derek was so out of it. After getting nothing from Jackson, Derek returns to the shell of his burnt down house with nothing new to help with his hunt for the alpha to contemplate his next move.

He knew that Kate Argent would pay him a visit, but he was hoping she'd put it off for a little bit longer. God, that woman has a way of pissing him off so effortlessly. Derek growls at her as her voice penetrates his ears, making him want to rip her flesh out in fury.

"Derek, I see you're still keeping your body in excellent shape," the woman says as she looks up and down his body in a disgustingly lustful kind of way. It makes his insides boil. "It's such a shame that I won't get to take advantage of it while I'm in town." Her condescending tone is unmistakable.

Derek's entire being is flooded with disgust by the sound of her voice. He lunges at her, but she knocks him down with a jolt of electricity from a wand she must have had hidden behind her back. That wasn't very intelligent of him with her holding that weapon in her hand, he can admit that, but he can't think. He just wants to see her down on her knees, begging for her life. It takes Derek a minute to get up, but he tries again to take her out. She's relentless as she zaps him over and over each time he gets up. He hates himself for not being able to even hurt her as a decent werewolf should.

Kate takes to monologuing as villains tend to do, but makes sure to clarify that they didn't kill Laura, the alpha did. Derek already knows this, but he doesn't give her the satisfaction of agreeing with her. He'd rather Kate say what she came to say and get the hell away from him.

The huntress crouches down in front of him, leaning in close like she used to do when she'd flirt with him back before she killed most of his family. Her voice sounds sickeningly sweet. "You know Derek, this could all end if we could work together to hunt down the alpha. Or you could just tell me who it is and we'll take care of it." She pauses, looking at him as if waiting for a response. Derek can only glare at her. "Unless, you don't know who it is…" she trails off, thinking for a moment, before continuing, "and if that's the case, we don't need you anymore."

Derek barely escapes through the back of the house as she pulls out a gun and shoots in a wide arc across the room. He runs until he thinks he's a safe distance away. He's not sure what to do now. Where can he go that will be safe from her?

-

While Stiles waits for his dad to get home so he can update the sheriff on what he found at Lydia's, he logs into the Sheriff's Department database and prints out the casefile on the Hale fire. He hasn't been able to solve his mom's case, but he might be able to help Derek. He spreads the pages across his bed as he reads over the information, hoping to find something he can use to help prove Kate's crime.

Right away, Stiles notes that the cause of the fire is listed as "electrical malfunction, possible arson" which is weird because to declare it as electrical malfunction, shouldn't the fire investigator have found evidence of that? The possible arson alone part should be enough to get the case reopened, although six years of being exposed to the elements may have destroyed any remaining evidence. He wishes he could think of something to help.

He doesn't know why he wants to help the guy so much. Maybe it's because Derek has no one, and Stiles doesn't want that for the guy. The werewolf has all that hard exterior going on, but he is sure it's just a facade to hide how much he is hurting; it has to be. Derek has lost so much in his short life already. Sure he knows how it is to lose family to hunters, but the boy has his father yet and then there's Scott. Because even though Scott can be selfish sometimes, they are brothers. Who does the wolf have? Nobody. Stiles wants someone to be there for him.  _ Yeah, that's why. _ Derek deserves to have at least one person there for him, and Stiles will be that person. 

He smiles to himself and keeps on with research. 

Suddenly Stiles hears something outside his room. He freezes as his window slides open, and then as Derek's scent hits him, he relaxes, but only slightly. He listens as two feet hit his bedroom floor, too quietly for a human's ears, pausing to let Derek make his presence known.

But Derek is standing there, frozen, barely breathing for at least a whole minute. Stiles is getting impatient with the lack of action from the wolf, but he can't simply show that he knows Derek is there, so he sits up from his hunched position over the papers he's been studying and stretches, eyes scanning the room until he finds Derek, standing still by his window, looking straight at him with a curious expression. He fakes a surprised jolt and widens his eyes. The werewolf is shirtless, and his skin is damp with sweat. 

"What are you doing here?" the boy asks, letting his voice rise.

Derek scowls, as if he just remembers why he’s in Stiles' bedroom. "Kate just tried to kill me. My house isn't safe."

"I hate to tell you this, Derek, but your house wasn't safe already. Why are you staying there anyway?" Stiles says as he motions for Derek to sit in his computer chair. 

"Staying at a hotel would just make it easier for hunters to find me," Derek explains, but instead of sitting in the chair, he comes closer and examines Stiles' bed with his eyes. 

"Huh. But you thought they wouldn't look for you at your old house?" 

"It was worth a shot." Derek shrugs. "What's all this?"

"Um… I was... You know, trying to help, like I told you I would," he says, then scratches the back of his neck. 

Derek doesn't say anything, just keeps on looking at the papers and flipping through some of the pages.

"Do you want to stay here? We do have a guest room." Stiles offers. It's out of his mouth before he even has a chance to think about it. He blames the awkward silence.

Derek looks up. He's squinting like he's trying to figure out Stiles. "Shouldn't you ask your dad first?"

Stiles chuckles. "I'm sure I'll be able to convince him easily enough. Besides, where else would you even go?"

Stiles avoids looking at Derek; the man is still shirtless— _ damn that body _ —and tries to think of something else to say, before he remembers the video he has on his phone.

"I went to Lydia's after school, since she missed today—" Stiles says, before being interrupted by Derek.

"Lydia?"

Stiles looks up at the werewolf briefly, then grabs his phone and taps away to distract himself. "The girl who was at the video store with Jackson." 

He can see Derek nod from his peripheral vision.

"Anyway, she was completely out of it on Valium or something, so she wasn't any help as far as telling me what she saw, but I picked up her phone, just in case she had any pictures or video of what happened. It was all selfies, but I studied them all just in case there was something important in the background." He shrugs. "There wasn't, but just as I was getting ready to leave, an anonymous someone sent her a video. I'm pretty sure it's of the alpha. I sent it to myself before I deleted it from her phone," Stiles says excitedly.

"Show me," Derek demands as he sits down next to Stiles on the bed, their shoulders and thighs pressed together, and he refuses to shift away.

Stiles finds the video on his phone and hands it to Derek, who grabs it but doesn't move away. It's the first time they've touched without Derek trying to scare him, and he's loving it.

The video plays out as they both watch the phone, but Derek doesn't look surprised when the bulky beast flashes across the screen. The man only sighs and hands him back his phone. Stiles frowns curiously. "You don't look surprised by this monstrosity. Is there something I should know?"

Derek's eyebrows do this confused dance at him, and he says as if it was nothing, "It's his fighting form."

"Oh?" Stiles asks, hoping that Derek will elaborate. "I thought the beta form was to fight. Can all werewolves change like that?" he adds excitedly.

"Just alphas," the werewolf answers as he flips a paper in front of them. "Wait, how do you know about the beta form?" Derek asks with a smirk.

Stiles swallows nervously. "Dad gave me a crash course after I told him I thought Scott was a werewolf."

The werewolf shakes his head, clearly disappointed, and stands up. "You keep lying to me." 

Stiles' stomach drops with the hurt face the man is displaying. He wants to tell him the truth, but he knows he can't. His father would flip his shit. "Derek…" His hands twitch with want to touch the older werewolf, but he holds back.

"You know what? Stop. I'm tired. I have been running for my life, so I'm gonna accept your offer to stay. Can I take a shower?"

"Sure, I'll grab a towel for you," he says and gets up from the bed. He walks to the linen closet as he keeps talking. "Are you hungry? You must be hungry! I'll make something. Just take your shower, then meet me in the kitchen."

Derek accepts the towel with a nod.

"Oh, I'll get some clothes for you and leave on my bed," he calls after the man, and then Stiles is left gazing at the werewolf's ripped back and the beautiful tattoo between his shoulder blades. The guy is ridiculously hot, and he just wants to be pinned down by the werewolf and claimed roughly, and frequently. Stiles is suddenly starting to get distracted by a need that he'll have to take care of if he keeps up with the current train of thought, and he really can't do that with a born werewolf just across the hall.  _ It sucks to be a virginal teenager sometimes. _

He inhales deeply, rearranges his growing member inside his pants, and walks to his father's bedroom to get some clothes, because there's no way his own will fit the wolf. 

-

They eat in silence, and suddenly Stiles is missing the talkative Derek from before he lied  _ again. _ He tries to make meaningless conversation, but the werewolf only grunts his way through it, until Stiles gives up altogether and finishes his food as fast as he can.

He grabs their plates, insisting that Derek is a guest, and sends the man to his already made bed to sleep. Derek doesn't fight him much on it, so he must be drained.

By the time Stiles finishes up in the kitchen and walks back to his room, Derek is already sleeping soundly with the door open. Stiles stops in front of it and stares at the sleeping form. Derek looks so peaceful. The man is starfished face first on the bed, his mouth is open slightly, and he's snoring softly. He smiles fondly and heads back to his room to write a note for his father. He'll explain Derek tomorrow. Right now, he'll sleep too. For some reason, his heart is at ease, and he's sure the sleep will come fast and easily.


	4. No More Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for continuing to read our story and leaving Kudos and comments! <3

Stiles walks in the Sheriff's station with takeout in hand for both his father and himself. They haven't talked about Derek's living arrangements yet, and he is adamant about making his father understand just how much the older werewolf needs help. He won't get out of there without a yes.

When Stiles woke up early that morning, Derek was already gone, and the note he had left for his father was on his nightstand with a "meet me at the station after school" added to the end of it. And he knew just by the way his father wrote it, with no further ado, that John was mad. So he bought fries, not only for himself, but also for his father, today. 

"Hey daddio!" The boy greets his father as he opens the Sheriff's office door happily. Or at least he’s trying to appear excited.  _ Well, his father isn't a supernatural creature with higher senses to know how nervous he really is. _

"Care to explain to me why Derek Hale spent the night in our guest room?" John crosses his arms and asks, without even greeting him back.

"Derek's going to be staying with us for a while," he says and sets both takeout containers on his father's desk. "He had been staying at the Hale house. You know, the burnt down pile of rubble? Kate Argent paid him a visit and tried to kill him, so it's not safe, or less safe than it was, and hunters could easily find out if he's staying in a motel or hotel. So I told him it's probably safest if he stays with us," Stiles explains, getting comfortable in his usual seat and trying to sound as if there's no choice to make.

His father makes a face. "Kid, I think sometimes you forget who is the parent and who pays the bills for the house, and more importantly, who answers to whom."

He opens his mouth to argue, but the Sheriff doesn't let him speak. "That's a no, Stiles. We can help him find a safe place, but my priority is  _ your _ safety, not his."

"But dad, he could die!" he says, flailing his arms exasperatedly.

"Stiles…" John sighs tiredly. He uncrosses his arms and leans back in his chair, looking at his son. 

"Dad, come on. You know there's no safer place for him than our house. No hunter will try to break into the Sheriff's home. Please." Stiles pleads.

"Safe for him, but not you. I feel sorry for the guy, but I have to protect you first, son," his dad tells him with a sigh, his stance going soft, and Stiles knows he's halfway to his goal.

He bites the inside of his cheek to not give away that he can see the crumble. "He's a werewolf, Dad. He already smelled my scent and confronted me about it. I had to lie twice now, and he knows I'm lying. That ship has sailed," he says, and despite himself, he smiles, adding, "I don't think he's a threat to me, though. There's something about him that I can't explain. Besides, the Hales used to be people you and mom trusted. We can trust him, Dad. I'm sure of it." 

When John looks at him with a half-smile on his face, he knows he has won. "You're so much like your mother." John sighs, resigned. "I don't like it, but I'm not going to kick him out. Just try not to collect any other strays," 

The Sheriff opens his food and finds the fries. He chuckles at his son’s smug look. "You little shit."

Stiles decides to change the subject. "Everyone at school was talking about the mountain lion showing up at parent-teacher conferences last night."

"It's odd that it came out of the preserve. It had to have been chased out, and if I had to guess, I'd say the alpha did it," John comments.

"But why? To throw people off its trail? It's not fooling us, though," Stiles says.

"Once we catch the alpha, we'll ask," John says with a chuckle.

-

When Stiles gets home, Derek and Scott are already there. And from what he can hear, they're in the backyard training the new werewolf's abilities to scent and listen. He walks through the house, dropping his backpack on the floor and goes to join them.

He stops at the first step and watches. Scott has his eyes closed and his nose up in the air, while Derek asks him what things he can smell through the garden. His best friends get it wrong a couple of times, and Derek is getting more annoyed by the second.

"Focus, Scott! I can't teach you anything if you don't apply yourself," the older werewolf yells. It's a good thing that the backyard borders the preserve, and they have a bit of privacy 

"I'm trying!" Scott shouts right back, his eyes glowing a little and his voice going growly.

"Well, at least you can shift better than you can smell," the older were says disdainfully.

"Come on, Derek. He's trying." Stiles defends his friend, only to be ignored.

"In order to control the shift, you need to tap into your anger," Derek tells Scott.

"Anger?" Stiles says in disbelief. "He needs an anchor, Derek!" 

"What do  _ you _ know about having an anchor?" Derek says, tipping his head, and raising his eyebrows in challenge.

Stiles just clenches his jaw irritatedly.  _ Fuck it!  _ Derek will find out sooner or later living with him _ . _

"What's an anchor?" Scott asks, looking at the older werewolf, confusion evident on his face.

"It's something to keep you in control of your wolf. It can be an emotion you feel strongly, or a place, or a person." Derek explains, with his arms crossed, as if he didn't want to get into it with Scott just yet.

"Alright, I'll use Allison," Scott says, nodding with a blinding smile.

"That's a horrible idea," Stiles comments, throwing his hands up in front of himself. "What if you break up?" he says, remembering his own anchor weakening after his mother died. Thank God he had two. 

Scott glowers at the ground, muttering too low for human ears, "We're not going to break up."

"Stiles is right," Derek says, ignoring the young werewolf. "And you should stay away from Allison until after the full moon. You need to focus on learning control first. She's just a distraction." 

"And her family kills werewolves," Stiles adds. "Kate  _ just _ tried to kill Derek again yesterday."

"Fine," Scott says with undeniable unhappiness. "What's next?"

"Next you learn how to shift at will," the older wolf says.

"I don't think shifting at will is going to be a problem when he encounters the alpha. His pulse is going to rise enough to shift from the adrenaline alone," Stiles comments.

"Do you want to teach him?" Derek turns to him, angrily.

The Sheriff's son ignores the angry man and looks at Scott. "The first thing you should learn is how not to shift when all of your instincts are telling you to." And honestly that's the most important lesson, because Scott doesn't want to stay out of sight, so he  _ needs _ to learn how to control the shift.

"And how do I do that?" Scott asks.

"You focus on your anchor and lowering your heart rate," Stiles explains. 

Suddenly Derek slams Scott to the ground, leaving Stiles gaping at them. Gosh, the werewolf has anger issues.

"What the hell? What did you do that for?" Scott says, pushing at the older werewolf angrily. 

"You want to play lacrosse? This is what happens. You have to remain in control. You can't shift," Derek says, "Get up."

Derek does it again. And again. By the third time, Scott's eyes flash beta gold.

"Not good enough," Derek says.

"Positive reinforcement might work better," Stiles mutters, gesturing with his hands. 

It goes on for a while, Stiles trying to help and Derek eventually letting him. His stance goes soft as the time passes, until both of them help Scott with his anchor. In the end, his best friend still uses Allison as his anchor, but since it actually works, Stiles shelves his argument against it for future conversation. 

-

Derek leans on Stiles' door frame, with his arms crossed, as he listens to the boy's phone call with the pup.

"Ask him if he got anything off of him, maybe an impression," Derek tells Stiles, who looks up at him from where he's sitting in the desk chair. The boy does what he says, and at Scott's answer, he huffs in annoyance, shaking his head.  _ This pup, seriously. _

"Remember, your other senses are heightened. Communication doesn't have to be spoken. What kind of feeling did you get from him?" Derek says, louder this time, so that Scott can hear him even over the phone.

There's a pause before the pup answers, "Anger."

"Focused on you?" the werewolf asks, confused as he walks closer to Stiles and the phone. 

Scott tells them that he felt anger, but not focused on him, and even more when the alpha drew a spiral on his window. Derek looks at Stiles to gauge his reaction, and their eyes meet in understanding. This time, he doesn't call the boy on it. He's done with that, after seeing that Scott doesn't know about Stiles either, that Stiles doesn't want his best friend to know that he isn't human. 

"It means he's after revenge. Now we just need to figure out for what," Derek says, then adds, "You shouldn't have gone to her house, Scott. Now you're putting her in danger too."

He leaves Stiles' room and goes to the room he'll be staying in until he can deal with the alpha and hunters. The boy had said that his father was okay with it, and Derek really needs a place to stay for now. And if he weren't so stubborn, he'd admit how good it was to sleep with Stiles' smell coming from the room across the hall, and how safe he felt in this house, but he is so… 

The werewolf grabs some clothes from the duffel bag he brought from the Camaro and heads to the bathroom. Today he had tried to track the alpha and then trained the pup, and then again tracked the alpha, so he's tired and just wants to eat and go to bed after the shower. Hopefully, he can sleep before the Sheriff gets home again. That's a conversation he is  _ not _ looking forward to.

When he arrives in the kitchen, Stiles already has both their meals on the table, so that confirms that the boy indeed can hear him from afar, just like he suspected that other day on the roof of the store. 

"Thanks," he says and sits down to eat. 

"No problem. So, Scott's progressing right?" Stiles asks, clearly just to make conversation. 

Derek nods. "He doesn't know about you." It's not a question.

"Look, Derek..."

The werewolf shrugs and says before Stiles can elaborate, "You don't need to tell me what you are, but just don't lie to me again."

Stiles closes his eyes, inhaling deeply, then lets the breath go and nods. "Okay, I won't lie to you again."

-

Harris' class is getting ready to start, when Scott turns around in his seat to face Stiles. He's grinning.

"I've got an idea to lure out the alpha," he says excitedly.

"Why would you want to do that?" Stiles asks, already knowing this is a bad idea. When has Scott ever had a good idea?

"Because I need to protect Allison, Stiles!" his friends say as if it is obvious. "I've already put her in danger, and I have to fix it!"

The bell rings for class to start as Harris walks into the classroom.

"Okay, so tell me the plan," Stiles whispers, rolling his eyes. He knows there's no fighting Scott when it comes to Allison.

"Tonight, after I get off from work, we're going to come back to school, and I'm going to use the intercom in the office to call out the alpha," Scott explains.

"That, is a bad idea, Scott. We don't know if you and Derek can take him out. You've barely learned how to control your shift." Stiles would say he can't believe how big Scott's ego is, that he thinks a few weeks as a werewolf is a match for an alpha, but since he's been turned, the young werewolf thinks he's unstoppable and can do nothing wrong.

"Derek says that we're stronger in numbers, so he and I can take him out, Stiles," Scott says, rolling his eyes.

"Boys, if you're done with your conversation, eyes to the front. And I'll be seeing you both in detention after school," Harris interrupts.

"Fine," Stiles mutters under his breath, knowing that Scott will hear it.

Stiles has a feeling that he'll have to step up and expose himself one of these days, if he doesn't want to die, because of Scott. And he's not happy about it, because his father will kill him if hunters don't get him first. He sends a text to Derek, telling him about Scott's brilliant plan. Then he puts his phone away before Harris sees it and confiscates it.

-

Stiles picks up Scott from the animal clinic when he gets off work and drives to the school to meet Derek.

Derek is already waiting for them when they get there. He's leaning up against the Camaro, and he looks livid.

"Are you out of your mind, Scott?" the older werewolf says, looking straight at his friend.

"Like you have a better idea?" Scott shouts, "Tracking it hasn't worked so far, and it's still killing people," then storms off towards the entrance. 

Stiles watches the whole exchange, but doesn't say anything, even though he thinks he should've. Scott is his  _ best _ friend.

Derek glares at him, but eventually follows them both into the school. 

When they make it to the office, Stiles says jokingly, "Last chance to change your mind." 

The older werewolf glares at Stiles again, then turns to Scott. "You're gonna get us killed, Scott."

"What did  _ I _ do?" Stiles mutters, and the older were immediately makes a  _ you know what did _ face at him. And okay, maybe he's right; he should have said something...

"Fuck you, Derek. Just because you don't want to do anything to get it over with, it doesn't mean we're gonna die." He glares right back at the man. "Besides, you said so yourself; we're stronger in numbers. There are two of us and one of them. Stop whining," Scott says disdainfully. 

Stiles grimaces as he watches his best friend turn the intercom system on and position himself in front of it. 

The older were crosses his arms, shaking his head and huffing like a bull. Stiles scratches his neck nervously. The whole exchange is making him anxious. Then Scott howls into the microphone, and the sound is high pitched and just so funny that he can't help himself and barks out a laugh. 

Derek is not amused, though; his face makes this expression of disbelief and annoyance at the same time, like he doesn't know what the hell he is doing here.

For Scott's credit, he doesn't look so smug anymore and asks, "Was that bad?"

"Oh Scotty, that was so much worse than bad," Stiles says with a chuckle. 

Derek rubs his face, irritated. "You don't even know how to howl and want to take down an alpha werewolf. What are you thinking?"

Scott growls at him and gets back to the intercom with intent. 

Stiles doesn't know if taunting Scott was a good or bad idea, because his next attempt damn near leaves him deaf; that's how loud it was. 

"What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?" Derek asks.

Scott says, "Sorry, I didn't know it would be that loud," but he's looking smug as fuck and not at all apologetic. 

"Yeah, it was loud, and it was awesome!" Stiles says enthusiastically.

Derek scowls at Stiles. "Shut up. Don't encourage him, Stiles."

"Don't be such a sourwolf," he tells the were playfully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We know, we’re ending it on a cliffhanger, but we originally wrote chapters according to the episodes, so don’t blame us; blame the show! ;) The good news is that the next chapter will be posted tomorrow! 
> 
> So what do you think? Will Stiles have to reveal his secret because of Scott?


	5. Miguel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you guys for the support we appreciate it a lot! s2

"So, what do we do now? What's the next step of the plan, Scott?" Stiles asks.

"Derek and I should go outside and wait for the alpha to show up. Then we take it out," Scott answers, but he doesn't sound very confident.

"Great plan," Stiles mumbles, looking at Derek while thinking _ can you believe this guy? _" Derek, do you have a better idea?"

Derek sighs, then shrugs as if saying, _ nothing else to do _. "Let's go." 

They start walking back towards the entrance, but they don't get very far before Derek says, "Stop. Be quiet."

Stiles can hear something that sounds suspiciously like a heavy door opening, but he waits for Derek or Scott to acknowledge it. Then, loud enough for even humans to hear, something—odds are it’s the alpha—growls. 

Derek grabs Stiles by the collar of his shirt and leans in to whisper in his ear, "Run. Find somewhere to hide. Go!" 

"What? I am not separating from the group! Haven't you ever watched a horror movie?" Stiles furiously whispers back.

Derek bypasses Stiles, standing in front of him protectively, and tells the boy to stay behind him. And then they wait. Stiles hears claws hitting the linoleum floor of the school hallways and heavy breathing, and it's getting closer to where they are. He knows it won't take long for the alpha to find them. 

Stiles' muscles tense up as he sees the alpha round the corner. It runs straight at Derek, and he steps out of the way just in time for the alpha to take down the older werewolf. Scott tries to pull the alpha off of Derek, while Derek slides out from under them. 

Stiles looks around for a weapon he can use, and then he sees a fire extinguisher down the hall. He takes off running as fast as he can, skidding to a halt and pulling it off the wall. As he's running back towards the fighting, he watches as the alpha picks up Scott and tosses him further down the hall in the opposite direction from Stiles. 

Derek gets a few good slashes in while the alpha is focused on Scott, but by the time Stiles is close enough to use the extinguisher as a weapon, Derek has been tossed against the lockers. The alpha turns, sniffing, and looks at Stiles just in time for him to hit the alpha in the head. _ Damn werewolves and their super sniffers smelling Stiles' not-so-human scent. _ The alpha stumbles back, momentarily dazed, before it lunges at Stiles. He hits the alpha in the head with the extinguisher again. Scott jumps on the alpha's back and tries to strangle it. The alpha manages to buck Scott off its body before suddenly running deeper into the school.

"Why'd it run away?" Stiles asks.

"He's playing with us. Don't you think that was too easy?" the older werewolf says, then straightens up, clearly focusing on his hearing, Stiles does the same, only less obviously. "Do you hear that? Someone just entered the building," Derek announces.

"Wait. That's Allison! What is she doing here?" Scott says, panic clear in his voice, before he runs towards the front of the school. 

Stiles and Derek follow him closely. 

"What are you guys doing here?" Scott asks when he makes it to Allison.

She's standing in the dark hallway with Lydia and Jackson in tow.

"What do you mean? You sent me a text to meet you here. We had plans with Lydia and Jackson, but you didn't show up, so they gave me a ride here," Allison explains, and she's just as confused as he is.

"What are _ they _ doing here?" Jackson asks, gesturing to Stiles and Derek.

"He's my cousin... Miguel," Stiles blurts out, thinking quickly. He hears Derek snort behind him, but he's sure it was too low for the actual humans to hear.

Lydia looks at Stiles and Derek like she's considering something. Allison squints her eyes at them as well.

"It's not safe here. We need to leave," Scott says, agitated.

"What are you talking about?" Allison asks, getting nervous due to Scott's reaction being, once more, out of character.

"I didn't send you that text," Scott says.

"This is so stupid," Jackson complains.

"That's why we need to get out of here," Stiles agrees.

Suddenly a car battery slides down the hall. 

"Uh, that's not good," Stiles says. He can hear the alpha running toward them again.

"Run!" Derek screams as he grabs Stiles by the sleeve and pulls him in the direction away from the entrance. 

Stiles can hear Scott telling the others that he'll explain later, but right now they need to follow him. They run until Derek opens a classroom door and they all follow him inside. They lock the door and shove the teacher's desk in front of it.

"No one makes a sound," Derek says as they all back away from the door, his arm, seemingly instinctively, goes to Stiles' torso, pushing him away a step more than Derek. 

"What are we hiding from?" Lydia asks.

"Shh!" Stiles, Scott, and Derek say at the same time. 

A few minutes go by, and Stiles doesn't hear anything, not even when he focuses, closing his eyes briefly. Not that anyone other than Derek would suspect anything, but old habits and all that.

"We need something that will hurt it," Scott says, looking all around the classroom, and then at Derek.

"Hurt what?" Allison asks, suspiciously.

"There's some kind of animal loose in the school, and it's rabid," Stiles answers her before Scott can say something they might regret later.

Suddenly there's a bang against the classroom door. It's very frightening how silent the alpha can be when it wants. 

"Why are we not calling the police?" Allison asks. 

"Because my dad is the police, and I don't want him to get killed," Stiles says without thinking, because really, why would his father be afraid of a normal animal, even if it’s rabid. After all, regular guns can kill any animal just fine. 

"Doesn't he have a gun? Or is he a bad shot?" Jackson says with obvious disdain.

"Not that I care about what you think, but my dad is an excellent shot!" Stiles defenders the Sheriff. 

The alpha is still ramming the door. Stiles thinks that Derek must be right, and the creature is playing with them for some reason. Sure, even he can bring that door down, or at least crack the lock enough to open it.

"Regular bullets won't work for this kind of animal," Stiles says and sees Derek's gaze snap at him with an incredulous expression. Yes, that was stupid in so many ways Stiles can't even defend himself. "Sorry," he mutters just loud enough that the older were can hear. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" someone says, and he thinks it was Allison, but he's too focused on Derek and the noises coming from the alpha. 

"We are in the chemistry classroom," Lydia says, then adds, "We could make something to throw at it that would explode once it hits it."

When Stiles tears his gaze from the door to look at the strawberry blonde, she seems to be lost in her thoughts. But this is Lydia, and even though he just pretends to be in love with her, he still can acknowledge how intelligent she is. "Like a Molotov cocktail?" he asks. 

"It could work," Derek says.

Lydia works on it while her boyfriend helps her to assemble one quickly. Once it's made, they all look at the door.

"Now what?" Scott asks.

"We open the door, throw it at it, and run like hell in the opposite direction?" Stiles suggests.

"I'm gonna bait it far from you and Scott will throw the cocktail at it from afar while the rest of you run away to the cars," Derek says. 

Stiles doesn't like the sound of that, at all, but doesn't say anything, because what is there to say? Thea older werewolf and Scott are the ones who have to do that, even if he is feeling useless and mad at the fact that he can't help them fight the alpha. _ Fucking secret. Why did he have to be so special. _

Derek opens the door slowly, looks around and darts into the dark hallway as Scott waits from behind the open door, watching attentively. At Derek's signal, Scott leaves the room and runs towards the creature yelling for the rest to run to the school doors. The younger werewolf doesn't get too close when he throws the Molotov cocktail at the hulking beast. 

Meanwhile, the humans run out of the classroom into the hallway. The glass container hits the alpha and breaks on contact, but nothing else happens. It slowly turns its head toward Scott and runs toward him, now ignoring Derek on the other side. 

Seeing that the alpha is going in the direction which the humans are still running, Derek pounces on the alpha, and a few seconds later Scott joins him. 

Stiles can see that even though both betas are trying really hard, they aren't going to take down the alpha, but he can't do anything with that many people with them. He curses in his head and calls his father. 

"Dad! We're at the school, and there's a rabid animal trying to kill us! Hurry up!" he says into the phone, then hangs up. "Fuck, I think we should get cover since that didn't work." he says, then changes course, grabbing at someone's sleeve—he's not sure whose, but right now he doesn't care. The rest can follow. 

They end up in another classroom, and Stiles has his face glued to the door, listening to the fight going on outside. There are growls and roars—too many to come from just one animal. 

"_ That _ is not an animal," Jackson leers at Stiles as if he has all the answers. "That looks like a very large and deformed bear, and I'm pretty sure bears don't look like that!" 

Stiles looks at him briefly, then turns back to the fight, shrugging. "I'm not an animal expert, Jackson."

They wait nervously for a while. Stiles hears feet and claws hitting the ground fast, like they're chasing the alpha, then police sirens far away, followed by a loud crash, like something went through glass. 

"I think it just jumped out the window," he hears his best friend telling Derek, breathlessly. Then the older were saying, "Come on, the police are almost here."

A few minutes later, Derek and Scott arrive back at the classroom. 

Allison throws herself at her boyfriend, asking if he is okay and what the hell that thing was. His friend only shrugs and tells her he's okay. Thankfully the girl is so concerned with her boyfriend that she doesn't press the issue. 

"I think we need to get out of here right now," Stiles says.

"Good idea," Allison agrees, entwining her fingers in Scott's.

The group makes their way back to the school's entrance. Stiles and Derek peek around, and when they don't see the alpha, they hope they're safe to walk out of the school. 

As they arrive outside, the police are parking all around. 


	6. Blame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As we’ve been planning and writing for part 2 of this series, your continued kudos and comments have really inspired us! <3

Derek and Stiles return to the Stilinskis’ after they are sent home from the crime scene at the school. They’d been the last of the group to give their believable—as could be in this situation—statements; they’d tell the real story to the sheriff once he got home.

They take turns in the shower, and Stiles orders food to be delivered, not being in the mood to cook. Stiles is waiting on the couch in the living room for the food to arrive when Derek finds him.

"Dude, have you ever watched Star Wars?" Stiles asks. His heartbeat picks up at the sight of the werewolf’s damp, messy hair.

"First, don't call me dude. And second, yes, Stiles. I have watched Star Wars," the wolf answers, rolling his eyes.

He makes this slightly disappointed face and tries to think of something else to watch. It doesn’t take him long; he has other favorites.

“What about Iron Man? I’d suggest Captain America, but it’s not out on DVD yet,” Stiles says, “Plus, you might as well watch the movies in release order.”

“I haven’t seen Iron Man,” Derek replies.

“Great! We’ll watch that,” Stiles says as he gets up and then goes to his room to retrieve the DVD.

After Stiles returns and puts the movie in the DVD player, he sits down closer to Derek than he was before he got up. Derek doesn’t comment, and he can’t help the slight smile that he gets as the movie starts playing.

"If the alpha was going to kill one of us, would you be able to do something to help?" Derek asks after a few minutes of watching the movie.

"You're fishing," he says.

Derek turns to him. "I'm not. You don't need to tell me what you would be able to do. I just need to know if you  _ could _ do something."

Stiles exhales, scratching his head. "Yes. Yes, I could have helped if I  _ really _ needed to."

Derek scoffs at his "really" and says without missing a beat, “And how bad does it have to be before you’ll do something to help?”

He closes his eyes, a little ashamed of himself. Damnit, the werewolf is right. "It's not like that, Derek."

"Are you ashamed of what you are?" the wolf says, already getting up from his place on the couch beside Stiles.

"Of course not!" he says, because he really, really isn't. It's the only thing left connecting him to his mother, and he could never be ashamed of that. 

"What then?" Derek asks, angrily.

“I want so badly not to have to hide who I really am, Derek, what I really am, but it’s out of my hands,” Stiles says, feeling his eyes sting from unshed tears.

"What's that supposed to mean? Whose hands is it in? Are you in trouble?" the wolf asks, concern clearly showing in his voice.

"Jesus," he says, then gets up to almost eye level with the man. "My father, okay! Goddamnit, my father won't let me tell anyone."

Then he storms out of the room before he can tear up even more in front of the werewolf.

The sound of the doorbell ringing makes Stiles have to turn around to answer it. Their food has arrived. He rubs his eyes furiously and goes to the door.

They eat in silence, only the sound of the movie in the background, and it's the most uncomfortable moment Stiles has ever had with Derek. He hates every second of it and dares to hate his father at this moment, because he can't stop this feeling inside of him that tells Stiles to  _ just _ trust Derek and  _ tell _ him everything. But he doesn't.

They’re almost finished watching Iron Man by the time John returns home from the school.

“Mind telling me why you were at the high school tonight in the first place?” John asks as he sits down in his favorite recliner in the living room. He's eyeing both of them.

“It was Scott’s idea,” Stiles starts as if that explains it.

John makes a  _ go on  _ gesture.

“He thought he’d use the school’s intercom to project his howl to attract the alpha,” Stiles continues. 

“And you went along with it, because?” John asks, tone obviously displeased.

“I tried to stop him, but he was going to do it with or without me,” Stiles answers. “Besides, Derek didn’t have a better idea.”

“Don’t blame this on me.” Derek defends himself. "I went there so you two idiots wouldn't die."

"Thank you, Derek," John says, sympathetically. “Well, Scott’s plan got a janitor killed.” 

“And I will use that as further proof that Scott should always listen to me, because I’m always right, and he always had bad ideas,” Stiles says quickly.

“But it did give us a lead to look into,” Derek adds.

“The text message, yes.” John agrees. “I’ll look into that. Maybe it will turn out to be useful. In the meantime, school is canceled for tomorrow to give us time to process the crime scene. Try to keep yourselves and Scott out of trouble.”

“Yes, Dad,” Stiles says.

“Yes, sir,” Derek says.

“Derek, I almost forgot. With the mountain lion incident at the school the other night, your sister’s death has officially been ruled an animal attack. You’ll be able to collect her body now,” John tells him kindly.

-

Scott arrives at the locker room, muttering and huffing. Now that school is back in session, lacrosse practice is too.

Stiles frowns. "Dude, what happened? You were happy this morning."

"Allison is confronting me about the whole alpha thing the other night." His friend huffs again. "I don't know what to tell her, Stiles! So I said I didn't know, and she got mad at me and said that I was lying to her and that I could only talk to her again when I decided to tell her the truth."

"Oh dude! She broke up with you?"

Scott snaps his head around to look at Stiles, who is standing right beside him. His eyes are glowing yellow, and he snarls out the words, "We did  _ not _ break up!"

"Okay Scott, calm down, right the fuck now,  _ your eyes _ !" He says, grabbing a hold of his best friend’s arm.

The young werewolf shakes his head. "Fuck, it's the full moon, Stiles. Allison is my anchor." 

“I told you not to make her your anchor,” Stiles mutters, frustratedly. 

"We didn't break up!" Scott repeats.

"From what I'm seeing, it doesn't matter. You're already losing it, so maybe you should sit out of lacrosse today," he says.

"All right, geniuses, listen up." Coach's voice sounds inside the locker room.

Stiles turns to pay attention to him and sees Jackson looking in their direction intently. He blinks, and all of the sudden, he gets the bad feeling that maybe they weren't talking as low as they should’ve. And Jackson clearly knew something was up with Scott before.  _ Shit. _ He tries to think of an excuse to give their classmate, but nothing comes to mind.

"And Bilinski!" Coach says.

His head snaps up. "What?!"  _ Fuck, his father will kill him. _ "Me? Are you sure? I mean there have to be more suitable people here." He laughs nervously.

Finstock looks at him as if Stiles had grown another head. "You don't want to be first line?"

"What? Me? Of course I want that!" he answers, laughing.  _ Shit. _ "I mean yes, but I also want the team to win, so…" 

Coach shakes his hand in the air, shutting him up, then goes on about Scott and Jackson being co-captains. As expected, Jackson freaks the fuck out and glares at them fiercely. 

Practice is a disaster. Scott is attacked by a couple of players and ends up taking it out on Danny, who had nothing to do with anything. And if Jackson wasn't pissed off with the werewolf before, he definitely would be now. Hell, even Stiles is.

"Scotty, everybody loves Danny, man. Why would you do that?" he asks his friend frantically.

Danny is on the ground, and everybody is all around him is looking on in concern. Even Lydia comes running from the bleachers.

Practice is over right then, and they all head towards the locker room, but Jackson pulls Stiles back before he can leave the field.

“What the hell, Jackson?” Stiles asks, pulling away from his grasp. 

“You’re going to tell me what that weird cousin of yours did to McCall to make him an overnight lacrosse prodigy,” he threatens.

“Or what?” Stiles asks, smirking, because even though he's totally been in control for years, today is the full moon, and he feels the pull crawling into his veins to show Jackson just what he  _ can  _ do. “He didn’t do anything to Scott. Maybe you just need to accept that you’re not the only lacrosse star on this team.”

“I’m going to find out, sooner or later. I’ve seen things,” Jackson says.

“Maybe you should get your eyes checked, or maybe your head needs to be examined,” Stiles mocks before walking back to the locker room with a grin on his face. He knows he should be worried, but messing with Jackson has put him in a good mood.

-

Stiles doesn't want to explain to Scott why Derek Hale is living in his house for an indefinite amount of time, so they agree to meet at Scott's after his mother leaves for work. 

Even though Stiles hears that his friend is in his own room, he calls out his friend's name when he unlocks Scott's front door with Derek in tow. The were looks at him annoyed and rolls his eyes as if saying  _ why are you even pretending; I'm right here _ . Or something, Stiles is pretty sure that his eyebrows say at least part of that. Whatever. He has been pretending for over a decade, okay?

“Where’s my favorite teen wolf? I come bearing a more experienced wolf and hours of entertainment.” He hears a growl from upstairs and smirks.

"Is that supposed to help?" Derek asks, annoyed.

"What? He's my best friend. I'm allowed to tease him," he counters.

The older werewolf huffs and walks up the stairs, shaking his head. Stiles follows and enters Scott’s bedroom with a massive grin on his face. "Scotty! I come in peace and have some goodies," he says, holding up two bags in front of him.

"Why am I here again?" Derek asks, facepalming.

"Oh Sourwolf, you know you want to be here and eat this junk food and watch some movies with your bros."

"Shut up, Stiles. I'm here to babysit a pup," he mutters as he falls into the chair by Scott's desk.

“Not babysit, Derek. Offer moral support and wisdom during a time of great stress in a young werewolf’s life,” Stiles says cheerfully.

"I'm right here!" Scott growls.

"Okay Growly, get comfortable on your bed, and I'll set up the movie, and if you want to go and howl at the moon, Derek here," he gestures to the older werewolf. "will hold you down."

Scott complains a little, but in the end, he gets comfortable on the bed as Stiles arranges everything for the three of them, though Derek doesn't move, even after everything is in place.

Stiles hands his friends the food and sits beside Scott, touching shoulders, and he's happy to see that he doesn't protest, in fact, he snuggles closer. God, he misses the closeness on the full moon. His father doesn't have time for him most of the time, and he was always a cuddler. Stiles pats the bed beside him as he says, “Derek, this spot has your name on it if you’re interested. Come on, puppy pile.”

-

Derek looks at them with some kind of yearning inside for the comfort of spending the full moon with the people he cared about, and maybe a little jealous of how close the two boys are on the bed, almost hugging, full bodily. He wants to, he really does. "I'll pass."

Stiles' face falls a little, and with it, his heart hurts along with the boy. 

“You’re missing out. I’m an excellent cuddler!” Stiles says.

Maybe Stiles also misses those nights with his mother? The sheriff sure doesn't have much time for his son. He thinks it's clear that the boy is hiding the sadness behind his little joke. And Derek wonders if it's because of him or the mother.

Derek reaches out to grab a piece of fried chicken from beside Stiles on the bed and lets himself sniff a little bit. The scent of the boy is something that he can't put his finger on, even though he still can scent the strange predator in him. Unlike the first time, his wolf is getting used to this particular predator, maybe is even fond of it. He doesn't know if it's the man that doesn't trust, and he's holding the wolf back, or if it's the wolf holding the man back. Derek hasn’t trusted himself for years now. He sighs and leans back in the chair. 

The rest of the night is calmer than Derek expected. He didn’t have to use his strength to restrain the beta even one time. Scott did start to get restless as the full moon rose in the sky, but Stiles always knew exactly what to say to calm him down. He’s maybe a little bit in awe of how easily the boy handled his friend.

It's almost morning when Derek finally settles enough to let himself drift off. The boys are heavily cuddling now, both tangled up together as a real pack should on a full moon. Derek knows now that yes, he's very much jealous, and it isn't just because he wants to be there with them.  _ It's Stiles. _ He feels possessive towards the boy. He slips under trying to understand why  _ now _ ? Why is he feeling those things for this boy when he hadn't felt anything like this since Kate, neither sexual nor affectionate feelings. Derek was so sure he'd never feel that way again, and he was happy with that. After all, he can't trust himself with feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is the one you’ve all been waiting for!


	7. Normal is Overrated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’ve been blown away by all of the comments, kudos, and subscriptions to our story! Thank you! 
> 
> We hope you enjoy this chapter! <3

It's night already when Stiles sees Derek heading out of the house. "Are you going to bury her today?"

Derek looks back at him from the door. "Yeah, I got the permit today, but I was waiting for nightfall to go. You know, hunters."

"Yeah, can I come?" Stiles asks, hopefully

"Why would you want to do that?" Derek asks, surprised.

"You shouldn't have to be alone. Besides, I actually met her a few times when I was younger. She was always nice to me," Stiles says.

"Lucky you. She always picked on me," Derek tells him.

"I would say that's what older siblings do, but I'm an only child, so I have no real experience there," Stiles comments.

The drive to the morgue is silent, but Stiles doesn't feel the need to talk. They give Laura's body to Derek in a body bag. It's not really what Stiles had expected, but he decides it's better than nothing. Stiles had insisted they take his Jeep because there's more room in the back than the Camaro. Together they put the body bag in the Jeep, and Stiles thinks how strange it is that they'll soon be driving through town with a dead body in the car. He decides to keep that thought to himself.

When they pull up to the Hale house, it looks the same as the last time they saw it. Stiles parks the Jeep and gets out. Then he pulls out a shovel from the backseat. He drops it on the grass before walking to the back of the Jeep to help Derek, not that the werewolf can't do it on his own, but he's here to be helpful and supportive. They set the body on the ground and begin to dig. 

"Do you want to listen to music while we work? What kind of music do you like, even?" Stiles asks after about ten minutes of digging. It's too quiet.

"I don't want to draw attention to any hunters who might be in the area," Derek answers. "And I like a variety of music. Classic rock, 80's power ballads, indie rock, alternative, even some pop-punk."

"Nice," Stiles comments. "I'm definitely into alternative, indie rock, and pop-punk, and a little Top 40."

"Laura listened to a lot of hardcore punk bands. It drove my parents crazy," Derek says, and when Stiles looks up, he's smiling. 

"Oh yeah? I can imagine how that might grate on your nerves if you have sensitive ears," Stiles says.

"Do you, though? Have to imagine?" Derek says as he looks up, and Stiles can see the hope in his eyes.

Stiles ducks his head and says quietly, "I guess it's more of an expression." He sighs. "At least my parents never had to ask me to turn my music down."

They're quiet for a few minutes as they continue to dig.

"So where were you before you came back to Beacon Hills?" Stiles asks.

"New York City, Brooklyn," Derek answers.

"I've never been there, but I know it's way different than here. Why would you choose somewhere with so many people?" Stiles asks.

"Laura thought we'd be able to blend in better. And it worked," Derek answers.

"That does make sense. What did you do there?" Stiles asks.

"I'm in school for Agriculture. Or I was. It was supposed to be my last semester before I came here," Derek tells him. "Laura was a social worker."

"I can see her doing that," Stiles comments. "Why agriculture?"

"I want to work with nature," Derek answers.

"Makes sense," Stiles replies. "I still haven't decided what I want to do. Part of me wants to follow in my dad's footsteps and become a deputy. The other part can't make up its mind."

"What are you thinking of?" Derek asks, and Stiles feels something that he can't explain from knowing that Derek is interested enough to ask.

"Anthropology, engineering, computer sciences. Even forensics, although maybe I couldn't stomach that one," Stiles answers with a chuckle.

It's quiet for a moment before Stiles works up the courage to ask what he's really been wondering. "So a conventionally attractive dude like yourself must have left a girlfriend, or boyfriend, behind when you came here, right?" His face is hot, and he hopes that Derek can't smell the nervousness from him.

Derek stops digging and looks at Stiles curiously. "I've never been good at relationships. Flings are easier," he finally answers, getting back to digging. They are finally almost there.

"That's depressing. Don't you want someone to love you? I know I do," Stiles says.

"I was in love once," Derek starts, looking away from him, "and it ended tragically." The man is reluctant, it seems.

Stiles can feel that it's a sore subject, but he  _ needs _ to know everything there is to know about this werewolf, and he can't help himself but ask, "What happened?" then he quickly adds, "You don't have to answer."

Derek takes a little bit to answer, and still won't meet his eyes, even though Stiles is looking at him, and he knows the werewolf can tell. "Her name was Paige. She was really good at the cello. She made it a challenge for me to win her over." The man smiles as if remembering the girl, and Stiles feels a pang of jealousy creeping up in him. "But once I did, we were inseparable. She was human, and I worried that if she found out what I really am, she might not want to be with me. My uncle Peter—"

"The comatose one?" Stiles asks, because he knows that Derek had other uncles. The family was so big.

"Yes." Derek nods and finally looks up at him. "He and I were really close growing up. He shared my concerns about Paige finding out and breaking up with me—"

Stiles frowns a little but doesn't say anything.

"and he convinced me that she should be turned, but mom wouldn't do it. She had a code about who she would turn, and she would never turn someone without consent. So Peter, he arranged for a visiting alpha to bite her." Derek sighs and looks down at the grave again. "I changed my mind, realizing it was a horrible idea, and tried to stop it, but it was too late."

"Der…" Stiles whispers sadly. In his heart, he already knows what's coming, even though he wishes to be wrong. 

"I found Paige, and she was already rejecting the bite. I could only hold her while she was in extreme pain. I tried to take as much pain as I could." The werewolf's voice hitches, but he doesn't pause even when his eyes fill with unshed tears. "Paige knew she was dying. She confessed about having figured out my secret, and it didn't change the way she felt about me. Then she asked me to end her pain, so I did. I snapped her neck."

"I'm so sorry, Derek," Stiles says. His hands itching to reach out, but he doesn't know if he can. "That's why your eyes are blue."

Derek nods. "And then shortly after that, Kate came along. She was a distraction from my grief. If I would've paid attention—" The man grits his teeth, the expression on his face shifting to murderous. "maybe I would've wondered why this older woman was paying so much attention to a fifteen-year-old boy." He laughs self-deprecatingly. "Why she told me that our meetings should be our little secret. I should have wondered why she was so interested in the tunnels under our house. And then she used that information to burn it down, with my family inside."

Stiles hopes he runs into Kate Argent, because he wants to kill her with his bare hands. Derek must smell his rage, because he looks at Stiles as if he's shocked. 

"I think the grave is deep enough now," Derek says, turning away to grab a bag. He sets the bag next to the hole and turns back to get Laura's body.

Stiles gets a whiff of wolfsbane as he follows him, and together they carry the body bag, setting it down next to the empty grave. Derek unzips the bag, then jumps into the grave. Stiles watches as he carefully picks up each half of Laura's body and arranges them on the bottom. When he seems to be satisfied, he picks up the smaller bag and pulls out a coiled rope. 

Stiles smells pain as Derek maneuvers the rope, and he quickly realizes that the wolfsbane he has been smelling the whole time is coming from it. "Derek, what the hell are you doing?" He says, already grabbing the werewolf's hand, stopping him.

"My sister wanted to be buried in her full shift, and to do that I need to make a wolfsbane spiral," Derek says, tilting his head as if Stiles should know this. Which he does.

"I know that, Der, but why aren't you using gloves?"

Derek laughs. "I didn't think of it." 

Stiles smiles fondly. "It's okay. This is an emotional feat." Then he grabs the rope from the were's hands. "Here, let me do it."

The wolf quickly yanks it back, yelling exasperatedly, "No! You'll hurt yourself!"

_ Shit, _ why does he keep doing that when Derek is around? "Actually, I won't." He blushes.

Derek frowns. "What  _ are _ you?" Then he seems to recuperate fast. "No, I'm sorry. That's not... Just forget it."

Stiles inhales shakily. After everything Derek told him today, he feels as if they’ve been working up to this place for a while. And he does want to tell the man; he yearns for it even. "I'm a weremargay." His dad can yell at him later. 

Derek's eyes go wide with awe. "You mean that is a real thing? And not a myth?"

He chuckles at the werewolf. "What werewolves can exist but weremargays can't?"

The wolf rolls his eyes. "You know what I meant, smartass. They're supposed to be incredibly rare, super fast, their voice can mimic other creatures' sounds, and they can…" His eyebrows knit together for a moment before his countenance changes. "Nevermind."

"What? What is it?" Stiles asks, suddenly nervous.

"Nothing," Derek answers sternly. 

"You know, I can hear the lie."

"Well, consider it payback then."

"Are you seriously mad at me?" he asks, incredulously.  _ What the fuck did he do? _ "Derek?"

"Let's just finish this and go back. I need to go to bed," the wolf says in a way that clearly means the conversation is over.

-

Derek arrives at the Stilinski home and goes straight to his current room to grab a change of clothes and take his shower. The car ride back was filled with anxiety, which only fuelled his anger further. Of course the boy would be nervous if he realized that Derek knew that the margay was manipulating him. As soon as he remembered just  _ what _ Stiles could do with his powers, the werewolf wondered about all the trust he was placing in a person he barely knows. The things he told Stiles, things he'd never tell anyone else, about Laura and Kate and Paige. It's clear to him that Stiles is using his powers against him. And not only to think he could trust the boy, but to think he was attracted to him as well. And how stupid can Derek  _ be _ anyway. It's like he enjoys being made a fool of himself.  _ Damnit. _ What is his problem? He knows he can't trust his instincts when he desires someone. Of course he wouldn't be attracted to a boy; what was he thinking? He had never thought about any male like that in his entire life. Stiles is clearly attracted to him; he can smell the arousal every time they are close enough, or when Derek gets out of the shower with his body still wet, his towel hanging from his hips. And  _ okay, _ he was enjoying the attention and the mutual desire, but maybe he  _ wasn't really _ , right? He doesn't  _ like _ men, never did. He wouldn't just out of the sudden  _ be _ attracted to a male or any other person for that matter. Derek is pretty sure he doesn't have a sexual appetite anymore—not since Kate.

After his shower, he smells food like he always does, and he knows Stiles is waiting for him in the kitchen, but he can't make himself go there. He's mad, and if he's honest with himself, hurt too. The were thought that they were at least friends. How could Stiles do this to him?

He closes his door for the first time since he accepted the boy's offer to stay at the house and lies down on the bed, willing himself to sleep. He won't stay there any longer, but the Sheriff isn't home yet, and Derek doesn't want to leave without talking to the man, thanking him.

Derek doesn't sleep though, and for some reason, all his wolf does is pay attention to every little noise the weremargay makes. For someone who's supposed to be extremely graceful and stealthy, the boy is very loud. Stiles eats alone after Derek closed his door and didn't come down. Then the boy uses the bathroom for his nightly routine and goes to bed. Like Derek did before, Stiles still leaves his door open when he crawls into bed. 

When Derek finally sleeps, hours into the night, he dreams about Stiles. But it's not really a dream, it's a nightmare. The weremargay keeps putting memories in his head that aren't supposed to be there, some good, some bad, but they are all  _ wrong. _

He wakes up by a knock on his door; he is sweating, and his heart is beating wildly, but even then, he can smell Stiles from the crack under the door.

"I'm up," he says, and after a moment then hears Stiles' retreating steps.

The werewolf doesn't leave the room until he hears the Jeep leave the house in the morning. 

John is in the kitchen when Derek finally gathers the courage to get up and face the music.

"Oh, hey Derek. I thought you had left already," the Sheriff says as Derek enters the kitchen, fully clothed and with his duffel in hand. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Thank you for your hospitality, Sir, but I think I should find a place to stay from now on," he says, ignoring the sinking feeling in his gut that says he shouldn't leave Stiles. He  _ can't _ trust that.

"It's no problem, son. If you need anything, just ask, okay? Your mother would be furious at me if I didn't watch out for her son," John says with a smile.

-

When Stiles pulls his Jeep into the driveway after school, he's hoping that Derek will be in a better mood. As he opens the front door, he realizes that no one is home. He knows his dad is at work. Derek must be out looking for the alpha, although it's not dark yet, and all of the stuff with the alpha happens at night.

Stiles heads up to his room first to drop off his backpack and turn his laptop on. As he passes the guest room, he pauses, because something is different about it. He steps inside and looks around. It hits him that Derek's duffel bag isn't where it usually is. He walks over to the closet and looks inside; it's not there either. Next, he looks under the bed, and when it's not there, he realizes that it's not in the room at all. He's starting to freak out. If hunters had got to Derek, they wouldn't have taken his duffel. That could only mean that Derek took it, and why would he take it unless he left?

Stiles pulls his cell out of his pocket and calls his dad, trying not to panic as the phone rings. When he's put through to his dad moments later, he blurts out, "Derek's gone."

"He didn't tell you?" his dad asks, sounding surprised.

"Tell me what?"

"He told me this morning that he wants to find another place to stay."

"What? Why?"

"He didn't say, and I didn't ask," John says as if it's no real concern to him. "You know I didn't want him there in the first place, so I don't care why. I'm just happy you're safe."

He tries to keep his voice even as he says, "Oh. Okay. Um, I gotta go."

As soon as Stiles hangs up, he faceplants on the guest bed, breathing in Derek's scent to comfort himself. He still doesn't understand what happened to make the werewolf mad at him, and how could it have been so horrible to make him leave without saying goodbye. Maybe he pushed Derek too much to know things about his life, and the wolf regrets it.

He gives in to the urge and lets the partial shift take over. He honestly can't remember the last time he felt the urge to shift this much. Or at all, for that matter, since he hasn't been shifting for years, probably since his mother died. He would do the full shift, if he still could, because he loved that, but he can't anymore, and the partial shift isn't as fulfilling. With the full shift, he could just curl into himself and shut out the outside world. The partial shift just gives him sharp claws, fangs, and hairy ears. 

-

Stiles has been sulking the whole school day. He knows it's stupid. Derek moved out, so what? It's not like they were together or anything. He doesn't even know if the wolf is into men like that. Granted, there were times Stiles could swear Derek looked at him with something like desire. But maybe it was just wishful thinking.

Scott bumps into him, pulling him out of his thoughts of Derek. "It worked!" His friend yells happily. "She forgave me, Stiles."

"That's great, buddy. I told you she would," he says, trying to smile for his best friend's benefit.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Derek found out something about a necklace. It looks like Allison's, so I'm gonna help him with it, see if it has anything to help track the alpha."

The weremargay holds his breath, trying to hide how much it hurts that the wolf is talking to his best friend, but leaving him in the dark about it.

"Oh, okay. Let me know if you find anything," he says. "Have you seen Lydia today?"

"No, she's probably home crying. Jackson broke up with her." Scott shrugs. "I've gotta go meet with Allison. Bye," his friend says before running away to reach his girlfriend at the end of the hall.

He turns to his locker and opens it to set his things inside when he hears Jackson's voice. 

"Stilinski!" the douche says, shoving Stiles against the locker. "You better tell McCall that I wasn't kidding when I said I want whatever it is that he got!"

It all makes the weremargay's blood boil like it never has before, at least not since after he learned his control over six years ago. He lets his instinct overpower him for a moment, and then he has Jackson pinned to the nearest wall pretty fast.

"Listen here, you entitled, spoiled, piece of shit." Stiles is pretty sure he just flashed his eyes at the human, if the way his eyes widen is anything to go by. "What you're asking for is an alpha bite. The alpha who bit Scott, without his consent, by the way, he's not exactly taking requests right now. He's out there on a killing spree, for only God knows why, and we've been trying to catch him for more than a month now. So, if you want him to bite you, I suggest you wander the woods tonight and ask nicely. You might get your wish; if he doesn't kill you."

Stiles can't even feel bad about it; that asshole had it coming for years, and the smell of fear coming from Jackson is pretty satisfactory.

When the margay gets home, the anger is already gone, and the ache in his heart is back, now with a feeling of apprehension that he pretty much revealed his secret to Jackson Whitmore of all people, and when his father finds out, he's dead. _Damnit,_ _what is wrong with him?_

He walks inside his home and promptly dumps his backpack in the hall before going directly to Derek's room, the guest room. The man isn't there, and he's not ashamed to admit that he was a little hopeful that maybe Derek changed his mind and came back. 

God, what did he fucking do?

Stiles inhales deeply and flops onto the guest bed face first. With his eyes closed, he buries his nose into the pillow with Derek's scent and decides that today he'll stay in bed. Homework can wait. 

The margay doesn't notice that he spends the rest of the day laying on the guestroom's bed, just inhaling Derek's scent, until his father gets home. But even then, he refuses to get up. Maybe if he pretends he's sleeping, his father will leave him alone.

John calls for him a couple of times, but he doesn't answer. When he hears his name one more time, he  _ knows _ his father is looking for him. He closes his eyes harshly and waits.

"Stiles?" His father's voice is close now, maybe even at his bedroom. "Stiles, what are you doing in the guestroom, son?"

The weremargay keeps his eyes close, and shakes his head, hoping his father will just leave him alone. Though he's not so lucky, because the Sheriff's footsteps are getting closer by the second until they stop in front of the bed.

"Are you crying?" John asks, confused. 

At that, he does open his eyes and rubs a hand across his face. And yep, he is crying and didn't even notice. He looks up at his father, but he doesn't know what to say.

John looks at his eyes, then at the bed, and the pillow that Stiles is clinging to for dear life. Then his eyes widen, and he says, "Ah, hell, son. What happened between you and Derek?"

He blinks up at his dad, acting confused. "Nothing."

"Son, I'm not an idiot," His father starts, setting his hands on his hips. "You are crying, on the bed Derek was sleeping on, with your little feline nose buried in his pillow, and your claws clutching it. Now, what happened?"

Stiles averts his eyes. "I don't know. One minute we were talking, and the next, he was mad at me. But I don't know what I did." He sniffs.

"Uh huh, and what were you two talking about?" John asks, sitting beside his son on the bed, and placing a hand on Stiles' ankle.

It takes him a full five minutes to work up the courage to talk, and he's thankful that his father waits. He knew that this conversation would come sooner or later; he was just hoping it was later. "He told me about Paige," He pauses to look at his father, who nods. "And other personal things and I-"

John closes his eyes and rubs his face. "You told him, didn't you?"

"Yeah, and then he just got mad at me and told me he needed to go to sleep."

"Stiles.." His father starts, tiredly.

"I know what you're gonna say. But dad, I just felt like I could trust him. I feel like we have this inexplicable connection. I'm sorry, okay, but I just…"

The Sheriff huffs amusedly. "I think it's time for us to have the talk."

"Oh God! Please don't!" he says, hiding his face. "It's not like that, Dad!"

His father laughs. "Not  _ that _ talk. Well, I guess it kind of is too."

"Noo, Dad, I don' wanna," he whines childishly, still hiding his face.

"Come on, sit up. Let's talk about this," his father says, patting him on the arm.

Stiles reluctantly sits up and hugs the pillow between his arms as he waits.

"Your mother was the one supposed to talk about this with you," John says, smiling fondly at his mother's memory. "I don't know how to explain it to you, because I'm not a margay like you or your mother, but she told me enough, I think. 

He grimaces. "Please, don't tell me mom had different anatomy. I do not want to know that, especially not from your mouth. Please, Dad."

His father frowns. "I don't know what is going through your head right now, Stiles, and I do  _ not _ want to know." He shakes his head. "Your mother told me that some of the supernatural creatures have mates, and I was hers."

Stiles gapes. "Mates? As in some kind of soulmate or something?"

"Or something," his dad answers. "And that they usually know when they meet the person, even if the other is human. And I guess that's what you're feeling?"

He nods at his father, because  _ that, _ that makes so much sense. "I'd be more excited about this news if he wasn't mad at me." Then after a beat, he says, "Oh God, Dad! That's it! He figured out and left because he doesn't want me as his mate."

"Oh Stiles, I don't think the mate thing works like that. Maybe he's just scared. Maybe it's something else entirely. Give him some time, and then try to talk to him," John says.

Stiles hopes he's right. Then he remembers there's something else he needs to tell his father.

"Finstock put me on first line," Stiles says, reluctant to have this conversation with his dad.

"Stiles…" His dad sighs.

"It's not my fault! Someone got injured, and I'm just the lucky mediocre player that he chose to fill the spot," Stiles says. He still hasn't forgotten the talk he had with his dad when he first went out for the lacrosse team just so he could spend more time with Scott. He'd had to promise his dad that he wouldn't use his abilities to stand out in any way. "I swear, dad. I didn't plan this. I’ve always been careful to play like a regular boy. If only Scott got that memo."

"I'm sorry it has to be this way, son," John says as he pats Stiles' ankle a few times and gets up from the bed. He stops at the door. "Oh, that girl you have a crush on is in the hospital with an animal bite on her side. I just thought you'd want to know." John takes another step then pauses. "Did you really have a crush on her?"

Stiles chuckles. "No?"

"I hope it wasn't for my benefit? You have to know that I'd never care who you date, as long as they respect you, right?" his father asks, suddenly concerned.

"I know that. I just wanted to feel normal for once," Stiles says, sadly.

"Normal is overrated."

Stiles chooses to believe his father, because what choice does he have?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think about the big reveal? Google margays. They’re adorable! They have spots (like Stiles has moles) and big gorgeous eyes (also like Stiles!) They’re considered trickster animals, because they can mimic the voices of other animals. We came up with another way for weremargays to trick someone; just like werewolves can steal memories, weremargays can do something else to memories. More will be revealed in the upcoming chapters, so stay tuned! 
> 
> What do you think of the conclusion Derek came to about Stiles?
> 
> We’d love for you to comment and let us know what you think! :D


	8. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for all of the love! <3

Stiles wakes up early for school the next morning. He hadn't slept well the night before, but there is something he needs to do, and the sooner, the better. 

He'd sent a text to Derek last night after his dad had told him about Lydia, but the wolf never replied. Stiles isn't sure how much longer he'll be able to function with the werewolf refusing to talk to him. The pain he's feeling is close to what he felt when he lost his mother. 

When he gets to the hospital, he seeks out Mrs. McCall by her scent, knowing she will tell him what room is Lydia's. She looks surprised for a moment after he finds her, but then a smile comes across her face. 

"You're here to see the Martin girl, aren't you?" she asks sweetly.

Stiles nods. 

"It's horrible what happened. She's in room 213," Melissa says, patting his shoulder. 

"I know she was bitten by something, but do you know what happened?" Stiles asks. 

Melissa frowns. "You didn't hear this from me, but apparently she was found unconscious in her backyard with some kind of animal bite on her side. Her dog was with her, so she must've been taking it out."

Stiles thanks her and gives her a quick hug. Melissa has always had a soft spot for him since his mother died, even though his behavior has often caused her unneeded stress. 

Stiles heads to the elevator to get to the second floor. When he gets to Lydia's room, Jackson is sitting beside her bed. 

"I thought you broke up," Stiles says as he enters the room.

Jackson rolls his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"There's something I need to check," Stiles replies as he moves to stand beside the hospital bed. 

Even though he can smell the alpha's bite and so much blood that it can't possibly be healing, he pulls back the thin blanket and sheet covering Lydia's body. 

"What are you doing?" Jackson asks, his hand darting out to keep Stiles from touching her. 

"She shouldn't be unconscious if it was the alpha who bit her. I'm checking to see if the bite is healing. I'm already pretty sure it's not, and she's not showing signs of rejecting the bite either. Something weird is going on," Stiles explains as if he's talking to a small child. 

Jackson nods and pulls his hand back. "What happens if she doesn't heal?"

"I've only ever heard of two reactions to an alpha's bite. You either change or you reject the bite and die a painful death," he says as he raises Lydia's hospital gown. 

"But she doesn't look like she's dying?" the other teen asks.

"I don't know anything else to tell you." Stiles carefully pulls back the bandage on the girl's side. "See Jackson; the alpha does what it wants to. We have no control over it, and we don't know what its MO is." 

"So what kind of werewolf are you? You don't act like McCall. You're horrible at lacrosse, and you walk like you don't know how to use your legs," Jackson says, chuckling as he looks at Stiles curiously. "You're clearly very strong, though."

"I'm not a werewolf." is all Stiles says. 

"But you're something."

Stiles nods. 

"What?" Jackson asks. 

"Not even Scott knows. Do you really think I'd tell you?" Stiles says. 

Jackson is clearly surprised by that. "Honestly?"

"Yeah, and I'm not about to tell either of you. What you saw was a mistake. I wasn't feeling well." He sighs and looks Jackson dead in the eye. "Usually, I have perfect control over it, and you'd never find out otherwise."

The other teen nods. "So you've always been like that then?"

Now is Stiles' turn to look surprised. 

"Don't look at me like that. I'm more intelligent than people give me credit for," Jackson adds.

"Yes, I was born this way," Stiles admits. 

Jackson nods again. "And you never took advantage of that. I can respect that."

"Does this mean you'll stop harassing me now?" Stiles asks, hopefully. 

Jackson scoffs. "I have a reputation, you know."

Stiles rolls his eyes then looks at the time on his phone. "I guess we better get to school. We can't be late on game day or else coach will have our heads."

-

Something strange happened last night. Derek was tracking the alpha when he heard a loud, painful howl. Which led him to Lydia's house, and he found her unconscious in the backyard. It was obviously the alpha's bite, and the beast had called him to find her for some reason. Derek blames himself for not being able to catch him in time to stop him from biting someone else. And that's a whole other situation to worry about; the girl should've turned or died by now. Though Derek thinks that by the state she was in when he got help, that she probably didn't make it. He makes a mental note to look for the girl after; if she indeed turned, then she will need guidance just like Scott did.

Derek is trying to get some sleep in the abandoned warehouse he's been crashing in for the past couple days, but it's not happening. _ Again. _ He wants to be at his best for tonight when he goes out to track the alpha. But his mind keeps drifting to the boy. And it makes him both mad and wishful. For the first time in years, Derek was enjoying the company of a person outside his pack. And thought that maybe Stiles was his friend. Well, perhaps even _ more _ than that for a while there. He wouldn't have minded if they were to go to the next level, _ but _ only if the feelings were actually _ real _ . But knowing the boy is a weremargay makes Derek feels so fucking stupid. He knows all about them. They are _ tricksters _ ; they _ manipulate _ people. 

The werewolf sighs as he reads his mother's book for the 5th time since he went to the shell of what was his home once and retrieved the book from the old library. The book is barely holding itself together, and it has several pages missing or burned too badly to read. The margay story isn't even complete because of it.

But Derek remembers everything and doesn't even know why he has the book in hand as he recalls his conversation with his mother and sister as if it were yesterday.

_ Derek sits on the sofa in the living room with the book his mother had read to them in hand, looking at the pictures in it. "You think they're evil, Lor?" the ten-year-old boy asks his older sister. _

_ "Oh, definitely. They probably enter the victim's room in the middle of the night and make the person see all kinds of things, make them forget who they are or who their parents are." The little boy's eyes widen in shock. "And they are so quiet that not even an alpha can hear them." Laura keeps going, and Derek is frozen in place. "Then, after they've messed up all of your memories, they use their razor-edged claws to slash your throat before they walk away on their silent little paws." _

_ "Laura, stop teasing your brother," Talia says from the kitchen. _

_ "What? He should know the truth about them!" his sister says, unrepentant. _

_ "I'm warning you!" their mother yells. _

_ "Fine," Laura answers, rolling her eyes. "You little baby." _

_ Talia comes in from the kitchen and sits beside her middle child. "Don't listen to your sister, honey. Not all margays use their powers to manipulate memories; in fact, most of them don't." _

_ "But they could if they wanted to, momma?" _

_ The alpha smiles at her son. She is not one of those parents who lies to their children, so she answers truthfully. "Yes, honey, they could if they wanted to, but werewolves or other weres can do awful things too. Just because weremargays are tricksters, and have different powers than us, doesn't mean they are evil, okay?" _

_ Derek doesn't say anything, but Talia can see that he's not convinced that margays aren't evil. "You know, honey, they are so rare. The hunters chased them for centuries because they are so unique, and their powers could do so much harm. So if you ever find one, maybe you should offer your help instead of being afraid of them, what do you think? Do hunted creatures deserve help?" _

_ At that, he smiles at his mother, because all creatures need help from hunters— _ ** _they_ ** _ are the evil ones. "Okay, momma, If I ever find one, I'll help them." _

Derek replays that day over and over in his head. His mother wouldn't want him to shut out Stiles like that. He won't, but he needs some time apart. Just because he'll help doesn't mean he has to accept the boy messing with his mind. And Stiles _ was _ doing it, right? He had to be, because he's not actually attracted to Stiles—a 16-year-old _ boy _ —right? He obviously enjoys the boy's company; Stiles is caring, and funny, and smart—what's not to like? But being friends is different than to trust the margay, and what he was, _ is _ feeling, and he shouldn't be feeling it. Derek hopes that whatever it was that Stiles did to him will eventually just go away so they can help each other and be allies. 

-

Stiles is walking into his house when he hears his phone ring. It's the ringtone he set for Derek, the song "Werewolves of London." The London part doesn't make any sense for Derek, but he still likes the song. He takes a deep breath to calm himself before he answers. It doesn't work.

"Derek, I've been wanting to talk to you. Please tell me what I did wrong so—" he says as soon as he answers the call.

Derek interrupts him. "Stiles, there's no time for that now. Your dad called me this morning to tell me that the text was traced back to a computer at the hospital. It was sent from Melissa McCall's computer."

"What? No. No way. She wouldn't send that to Allison. She's definitely not the alpha, either," Stiles says, shocked.

"Your dad already talked to her, and now he's trying to get a warrant to review security footage. Anyone could've used her account if she had it pulled up and stepped away from her desk," Derek says.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Stiles figures that he's included in the plan since Derek called to update him.

"Meet me at the hospital at seven tonight. It'll be less crowded then and easier to look into it," Derek tells him, and then he hangs up before Stiles can get in another word.

It looks like he'll be missing the lacrosse game tonight, after all.

-

Stiles is almost to the hospital when Scott calls him.

"Hey Scotty," Stiles says after he accepts the call.

"Stiles! The game is about to start. Where are you? Coach is having a fit," Scott tells him.

"Uh yeah, I'm not going to make it. I'm helping Derek with werewolves shenanigans," Stiles answers.

"I thought you'd be excited to be first line. Why are you helping Derek, anyway? You're not a werewolf," Scott says.

"I think the more important question is, why aren't _ you _ helping?" Stiles asks. 

"I couldn't miss the game," Scott says. Stiles can see his friend shrugging in his head. Scott doesn't understand priorities, like Hermione Granger. 

He's getting closer to the hospital and doesn't have time to dig into Scott's selfish tendencies. "Look, I've got to go. Try not to shift during the game." 

He hangs up just as he pulls into the hospital's parking lot. Derek is leaning against the Camaro, waiting for him. 

"Your father is reviewing the security footage now. Let's go," the werewolf says as he gets closer.

"Derek, wait. There's something important we need to get out of the way first. I don't want to go inside before we clear things up," Stiles says, wringing his hands in front of himself nervously.

The werewolf huffs. "Okay, talk."

Stiles crosses his arms defensively and looks down. "So, um… I don't know why you are mad at me, but I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be my mate, and for some reason, you don't want me, and I can accept that. Or I'll try to. I just need to know why. What did I do? Just tell me, and I'll never bring it up again," Stiles says, feeling his heart beating out of his chest.

Derek scoffs "Mate? You are _ not _ my mate, Stiles. And stop pretending you don't know why I'm mad." The wolf laughs bitterly, then turns away muttering, "mate" disdainfully as he shakes his head.

It hurts more than he thought it would, the rejection. Even though he was pretty sure Derek didn't want him anyway. "I'm not pretending!" Stiles yells. "That's what I'm telling you. I have no idea why you're mad at me."

The werewolf looks at him again, huffing slightly. "I know margays are tricksters, but you have to know that you messing with my mind and making me believe that I am attracted to you is wrong." Derek sighs. "I don't like men, Stiles; I never have. That's how I know that you did it."

Stiles gapes like a fish. "Messing with your mind? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Stop okay, just… stop." The man rubs his face tiredly. "I can't deal with this, Stiles, I've had too many people manipulating me before. Just, please. I want this friendship to work. I... I promised my mother I'd help if I ever found a weremargay, and I intend to do that."

"Der, please. I'm not doing what you think I'm doing." He pleads, feeling his eyes sting with tears. "If you feel something for me, it's real. And I'm sorry you don't like men, but fate or whatever made you my mate. I believe that _ that _ is real. If you don't want me, then I guess that's just another disappointment I'll have to live with. But you have to believe me; I'm not doing anything. I don't know anything about my kind being able to mess with someone's mind, like you're implying, either."

Stiles can see that Derek's resolve is crumbling, but the man hides it so well behind so much hurt and anger. He can understand though; the wolf has never had it easy. 

After what feels like several _ long _ moments while Derek doesn't say anything, Stiles speaks again. "Where are you staying? Please just come back to my place tonight. I'll maintain my distance, I promise."

The werewolf looks at him suspiciously, but something on Stiles' face must convince him, because he nods. The weremargay smiles despite himself. _ Maybe they can work it out eventually _. 

Then they walk into the hospital without saying anything else to each other. 

"Your dad said to meet him in the security office," Derek says when they enter the lobby. "Any idea where that is?"

"I'll ask this nice orderly here," Stiles says. "Excuse me, sir. Where might I find the security office?"

The guy points behind him and says, "Three doors down on your right."

They follow his directions, and Stiles knocks on a door labeled 'Employees Only.'

A security guard answers the door. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for the Sheriff," Stiles answers. "I was told he'd be here."

The guard looks at them both as if trying to figure out if he should let them into the office, when Stiles hears his dad say, "It's alright. Let them in. They're consultants."

"Have you found anything?" Stiles asks as soon as he stops behind the chair his dad is sitting on in the dim light. He glances at the computer screen in front of him and notices the image is paused.

"This is the last person to walk in the direction of the nurses' station before the text was sent. She's seen walking back exactly three minutes later," John says, then turns around in the chair enough to look at Derek. "Does she look familiar to you?"

Derek squints his eyes before answering, "I'm pretty sure that's the nurse who always harasses me when I visit Peter at night."

"Do you think she's the alpha?" Stiles whispers, because the security guard is still in the room.

"I think it's more likely Peter is," Derek answers before quickly pushing past the security guard on his way out of the room. 

Stiles takes off after him. 

John is slower to follow. "Where are you two going?" he yells as he chases after them. 

Stiles runs after the werewolf through the corridors in the direction of what he assumes is Peter's room. He stops quickly when he rounds a corner after Derek to avoid running into his back. In the hallway, Peter Hale is standing up on his own, no wheelchair in sight, with a smirk on his face. A nurse—the one on the security camera—is standing a few steps behind him.

"It's you," Derek says angrily.

"Nephew, so nice to see you. You've never visited me so much as this past month. And look at that, you brought the weremargay with you. Don't you know dogs and cats don't get along?" Peter asks, clearly amused as he steps closer to them. 

"Talia didn't share that opinion," Stiles snarks.

Peter’s smirk turns into a feral-looking grin.

"You killed Laura, our alpha!" Derek screams as he advances on Peter.

It's then that John rounds the corner and stops close behind Stiles. "Oh shit."

"Was she, though? After the fire, you both left me in this hospital, without a pack, which made the healing so, so slow. And I had nothing to do but plan my revenge on the people who murdered our family. If you'd been here, we could have planned it together. It's not too late, Derek. There are still a few people left on my list who deserve to be punished," Peter says.

"We left because it wasn't safe for us here. Hunters would have killed us, too, if we had stayed," Derek answers, still angry.

"Yes, yes, Laura wasn't ready to be the alpha. She should have passed on the power to me. I could've healed much faster that way, and I would've been able to keep our pack safe," Peter says.

"So you killed her," Stiles interrupts angrily.

"Unfortunate, but it helped me heal enough to carry out my revenge, revenge for our family's murder," Peter says.

"She was all I had left, and you murdered her for her power. Did you lure her here for that?" Derek asks.

Peter sneers in answer.

Derek lunges at Peter, but his uncle is quicker and steps out of the way. While Derek turns around, Peter moves closer to Stiles.

"Don't be like that, nephew. Join me," Peter says. "Don't you want revenge for our pack? Against Kate?"

"No," Derek replies. "Not like this, Peter. Laura was innocent, and so are Lydia and Scott."

"Casualties of war. If you don't want to join me, I'll just have to use your power in another way," Peter says as he lunges toward Derek. 

Stiles lets the shift come over him, waiting for the best way to help Derek take down his uncle. He sees his in as soon as Peter has Derek pinned on the floor. He dives onto Peter's back and uses his strength to grab his arms, letting his claws slide into flesh, and he pulls them away from where the alpha is trying to strangle Derek. Then the margay bites down hard on the back of Peter's neck. The alpha lets out an inhuman howl as Stiles slowly stands up, pulling the older man up with him. Peter is struggling in Stiles' grip, but he holds on with every bit of his strength. He watches as Derek stands up slowly, rubbing his neck, and looking at his uncle with a sad expression.

Stiles releases his teeth from Peter's neck long enough to tell Derek what he needs to say. The taste of Peter’s blood on his fangs is sickening.

"You have to do it, Derek. I gain nothing by killing him, but you do. You have to take his alpha power, so you can make a new pack. Hurry!" Stiles says, anxiously. He knows that the injuries from a margay take longer to heal, but Peter is an alpha, and they don't have much time. Derek needs to act, _ now _. He bites into Peter’s neck again to hold him in place.

"You're going to listen to this boy instead of me, your favorite uncle?" Peter says as he struggles to get away from Stiles.

Derek must see what Stiles tried to convey with his words, because he doesn't answer before his fangs dig into his uncle's neck, ripping a massive chunk out of it. Stiles retracts his nails from the older man's body, letting Peter's limp body fall to the floor and steps cautiously towards the new alpha. Derek's eyes glow red, and as Stiles looks at his ruby eyes, he feels his own flash purple in answer, and the fragile bond they had snaps in place, solidifying. If he had doubts that they were mates before, he wouldn't now. Stiles hopes this feeling isn't a one-way route.

Stiles shakes off his feelings and says quietly, "You did the right thing." 

Derek doesn't look like he agrees. His face is a clear mask of sorrow and pain, but he nods.

"Okay, we need to get his body out of here before someone finds it," Stiles says, thinking quickly. "And dad will have to go confiscate the security tape. I hope the guard wasn't paying attention to this hallway just now. I'll go talk to my dad, and then I'll be right back." He squeezes Derek's shoulder as he passes by.

"I got the nurse out of the hallway before the fight started," his father tells him as soon as he steps around the corner. "She's cuffed and sitting in a chair over there. I arrested her for being an accomplice to murder. I don't know if we'll be able to prove it, but at least it'll keep her out of the way for a bit."

"That's good. Derek and I need to get Peter's body out of here, and you need to get the security tape that covers the hallway before you leave," he tells his dad. 

John nods. "You boys did good tonight. I know I shouldn't say that when someone was killed, but he had to be stopped, and he certainly couldn't be locked up in a prison. Alright, go help Derek, and I'll meet you at home later."

Stiles gives his dad a brief hug before he returns to Derek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now that you know a little more about what Derek thinks Stiles did to him, what do you think? Will Derek come around?
> 
> And Derek is an alpha now!
> 
> Only two more chapters left of part one! (And part two is going to be SO good!)


	9. New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for all of the kudos, comments, and subscriptions! They make us so happy! <3

Being beside Stiles is pure torture. Derek can feel his skin vibrate with the need to touch, and his wolf is adamant that the margay is his mate. When the alpha spark invaded his body, Stiles' scent assaulted his nose, and the only thing he could think of at that moment was  _ mate mate mate _ . It confused him so much because it felt so damn  _ real _ , but it isn't, right? His wolf is just thinking that Stiles is his mate because Stiles said so after messing with his mind. But it  _ feels  _ so real. How can it seem that authentic if it's fake?

Derek hadn't gone back to Stiles' house after they buried his last relative's body. He told Stiles that he needed to shift and run, and the feline understood. The boy was sad for a moment, Derek could see it, but respected his wishes. And that also confuses him, because wouldn't Stiles need to be close to him so he can work his magic on Derek? Or has he given up? For some reason, the thought of Stiles giving up on him makes him sad. And then mad, because,  _ fuck _ , how fucked up is that?

He enters the Stilinski's house in the late morning. The Sheriff is sleeping, and Stiles is nowhere to be seen or heard. And again he's confused by his feelings, because he didn't want to see the weremargay, but at the same time, he  _ did _ . It's like Derek is a rollercoaster of emotions since he killed his uncle, and he doesn't know how to deal with it.

Derek decides that after running in his new alpha form the whole night and most of the morning, it's time to sleep. He's so exhausted that sleep comes easy, and in no time he's sleeping soundly.

When he wakes up, it's night, and he's alone in the house. Derek knows by the faint smell of the margay that Stiles hasn't been home the whole day. And he knows he shouldn't be, because he doesn't want Stiles to misinterpret it, but he's concerned, so he sends the boy a text asking if he's okay.

He gets an answer before he can walk all the way from his room to the kitchen. 

_ I'm fine, heading home now _ . Stiles replies.

In the kitchen, he fixes up a few sandwiches for him and Stiles. It's almost 10 pm, so maybe his mat-STILES, perhaps Stiles is hungry too. No, this is not Derek trying to provide; this is a guest trying to be nice to his host, he tells himself, assuringly. 

The wolf sets two plates full of sandwiches at the table, then goes back to get juice from the fridge. He sits in his usual place and waits, because the sandwich is cold, so he doesn't need to eat right away, and it's only polite to wait, right? Right. 

After a couple of minutes, he sends Stiles another message. Already feeling stupid for waiting. Stiles probably isn't even hungry. 

_ Are you hungry? I made sandwiches.  _ He sends. 

_ Starving.  _ The boy replies.

Derek doesn't have to wait much longer before Stiles' Jeep sounds a couple of blocks from the house. He waits, staring at his plate and listening for the margay's approach, as Stiles pulls into the driveway, then closes the car's door and walks to the front porch. By then, the wolf's heart is beating fast, and he is getting nervous as he hears Stiles getting closer by the second. 

The werewolf is already tapping his fingers on the table by the time Stiles arrives at the kitchen. 

The look of surprise on the margay's face makes Derek squirm uncomfortably in his seat. "Um... You said you were starving, so I waited," he says. 

Stiles' face splits in two with the biggest grin Derek has ever seen on the boy. "Thank you, Der."

He ducks his head, blushing, and starts eating his food. It isn't the first time he hears the endearment, but this time, his stomach flutters happily, and his wolf settles for the first time since he left Stiles in the woods to run.

"You're welcome," he says. 

Stiles talks a lot. He tells Derek every single thing he did all day since waking up. The margay tells him about Jackson, and how surprised he was with the guy's behavior. Tells Derek about Lydia and how they visited her again, but there's nothing different; she's still in a coma. Then he starts in about how Scott and Allison are even more glued at the hip. 

"That can only end badly," Derek says.

"Because her family are werewolf hunters? Yeah, but Scott is stubborn, and she's his first girlfriend, so he's refusing to accept that anything will ever come between them," Stiles answers, rolling his eyes.

"I can remember being like that," Derek says softly.

-

Stiles is hit with a wave of jealousy, thinking about Derek being in love with someone else and quickly changes the subject. "Have you thought about growing your pack yet?"

"Now that I know what happened to Laura, and Peter has been dealt with, I'm not really sure I should stay in Beacon Hills for good." The wolf shrugs, looking at his now empty plate. "I still want to stay for a while longer, see if we can put Kate away, but my life is back in New York," Derek tells him.

Stiles can see that the werewolf is uncertain, despite what he says, and he has thought about this. Even if Derek doesn't want to be with him, the margay wants his mate close and has already prepared his speech. "I have a few reasons for you to stay. My best friend is a new beta without a pack, and he needs an alpha so he won't go crazy as an omega, and you could be that alpha to him." The weremargay pauses for a second, thinking carefully before he adds the next reason. Stiles knows it's a low blow, but he can't let Derek leave. It's selfish, he realizes, but he can't seem to care right now. "Also, I remember your mom told me once that the Hales have been protecting this territory for centuries. I think she'd want you to carry on the tradition."

Derek seems to contemplate it for a moment, but then he gives Stiles a small smile. "I guess I have to stay, don't I?" 

"It'll be great," Stiles tells him cheerfully, "I can try to convince Scott to submit to you. I think he'll be more likely to agree if I'm the one who approaches him."

"Thank you. You don't have to do that," Derek says. 

The man is smiling, and Stiles' stomach is doing somersaults in happiness.

"Hey, I don't want Scott to become an omega, or you for that matter," Stiles says, contentedly.

"Thanks. And I do want to grow my pack. I just don't know how to even go about it," Derek says, frowning slightly.

"Well I know that felines don't have packs, but without my mom, I'm the only shifter in my family, so I wouldn't mind being included in your pack, if you'd let me, anyway," Stiles says, shyly.

"I don't know how that would work as far as you submitting to me, since weremargays have no alpha or beta status, but I think we could work it out somehow," Derek tells him.

Stiles smiles. "Awesome. And as far for adding a new wolf to your pack, I have someone in mind."

"Who?"

"Jackson Whittemore."

"That jerk who thought I was Scott's drug dealer?" Derek asks, shocked. Then he shakes his head and says, "No."

"Come on, hear me out. I did tell you earlier that he's not actually as bad as I thought he was. He already knows that Scott is a werewolf and that I am something, though I refused to tell him what kind of something. And he actually wants the bite. Besides, it's safer to have him in your pack than having him knowing our secret outside of the pack."

Derek tilts his head as if considering, then nods. "You make good points. So how do I approach him?”

"I can call him right now, if you want, and ask him to come over tomorrow."

Derek actually looks nervous, but he agrees. 

"Great!" Stiles dials Jackson's number, glad he actually thought to ask him for it at the hospital earlier. 

"What do you want, Stilinski? I knew it was a mistake giving you my number," is Jackson's way of answering his phone.

Stiles ignores the jab. "Come to my house tomorrow. I have something you've been wanting."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jackson asks.

"There's a new alpha in town," Stiles answers, winking at Derek.

-

When Jackson gets to Stiles' house the next morning, Derek can smell fear coming off the boy, even though he looks confident. They all take a seat in the living room, Stiles on the couch next to Derek, and Jackson in the recliner.

"Jackson, meet Derek Hale, the new alpha," Stiles says.

Derek flashes his eyes.

"Your cousin??" Jackson asks, surprised. "You said he wasn't responsible for Scott?" 

"That's why I said there's a  _ new _ alpha. Derek killed the rogue alpha and inherited his alpha spark. And he's not actually my cousin. We're not related,  _ at all _ ." Stiles says the last part emphatically, and Derek can smell his discomfort.

Jackson smirks. Derek wants to take the smug look off of his face. "First, you need to know all the pros and cons. The bite is a gift."

Stiles can already see this going sideways, so he interrupts. "Werewolves have a pack structure. Packs are families. Everyone is there because they want to be together. There are alphas—one of those to a pack, betas—they submit to the alphas by pledging their loyalty, and in return, the alpha provides for them and protects them. There are also omegas, but you don't want to be one of those. They're lone wolves with no pack and eventually will go crazy without one."

Derek thinks that Stiles is doing a better job than what he had planned to say, so he lets him continue, with the intent to correct him if he needs to.

"I've already told you that the bite either changes you or kills you, except for whatever is happening to Lydia, which we still have no idea what's going on there. So just a reminder that there is a small chance it could kill you. If it doesn't, the bite gives you abilities, like you've noticed with Scott. Enhanced speed, strength, hearing, scenting, and healing are all perks. When you shift, you get cool, sharp claws and fangs," Stiles continues. 

"I want it," Jackson says, and Derek can tell that he means it.

"That's not all," Stiles adds, quickly. "You have to learn to control your shift, because even outside of a full moon, if you get too angry or if your heart rate goes up too high, you'll shift and can easily lose control of the wolf. If the wolf takes over, you could accidentally injure or kill someone. The urge is stronger on the full moon, but it is still possible for you to control it. You'll need an anchor to help with that, someone you love, a place you feel strongly connected to, or an emotion."

Stiles pauses to let that sink in before he continues. "And now for the major con, hunters."

"Scott already told me about hunters," Jackson interrupts.

"Well I'm going to tell you again, so I know that you get the full story. They're not just a scary story that parents of shifters tell their kids. They're supposed to follow a code and only kill weres who lose control and injure or kill a human, but there are rogue hunters who don't follow the rules. Those hunters hate all shifters and kill for no reason." Stiles pauses and looks at Derek, sadly. "They killed most of Derek's family."

"I think Stiles covered everything. Do you need time to think about it?" Derek asks Jackson. He's hoping that he doesn't. The urge to grow his pack is already strong, and he needs to fulfill at least  _ one _ of his urges.

Jackson shakes his head. "I understand the consequences, and I still want it."

Stiles does a little victory dance in his spot next to Derek. He resists the impulse to smile.

"You're so weird, Stilinski," Jackson says. "So how do we do this?"

"Lift up your shirt. The bite should hurt less on your side, and it'll be easier to hide while it heals," Derek instructs him. 

Jackson stands up and does as Derek told him.

"Come here," Derek says, and when Jackson steps in front of him, he takes a deep breath and lets the shift come over him. Then he leans forward, grabs him by the hips, and sinks his fangs into the flesh between Jackson's ribs and pelvic bone.

Jackson lets out a pained gasp, and Derek feels a connection snap into place. He pulls away and stares at the blood starting to run down his side and gives in to the instinct to lean forward and lap at the blood to clean the wound. His new beta jumps when the alpha's tongue touches his side, but he doesn't say anything. 

The alpha smells Stiles' jealousy and discomfort before the boy jumps up and says, "Oh shit. I should've got bandages. I'll be right back," then runs out of the room.

It's the second time since Derek became an alpha, and he doesn't want to fuel it further, so he stops before the margay gets back. He pulls away from Jackson further, his back touching the couch again. When Stiles gets back, he can see the relief in the boy's eyes when he tells Derek that he'll patch up Jackson.

Stiles' skillful fingers work on his new beta's side fast, and for a moment he's enraptured by it. His mind quickly wanders to what the margay's fingers would feel like on him, sliding across his body. The slender fingers stop moving, making Derek look up at Stiles, who is looking back at him with a frown. He snaps out of it and clears his throat, getting up and walking to the kitchen with the excuse of getting water.

"Have you seen Lydia today already?" Stiles' voice sounds from the living room.

"No, I was going to go there after I leave here," Jackson answers.

"Yeah, I'm going with you. I can smell if anything changed," the margay says.

Derek returns just in time to see Stiles waving at him and leaving the house. He stares after the door, blinking. He should be happy with this; Stiles is respecting his wish to give him space. So why isn't he?

The day passes so slow to Derek. He watches TV and even dares to try some video games in Stiles' room. He quickly gives up on that though, because being inside of Stiles' room with the margay's scent all over the place, just no. Derek already has to restrain his hands from reaching out when the boy is within touching range. But it's fine, he's fine. This is what he wants, what he needs. Derek wants to feel like himself again, and he has to keep his distance from the margay to make it so that whatever it is that Stiles did to him goes away. He can do it.

When the Sheriff arrives home late in the afternoon, Derek is back in front of the tv. Something is playing, but he isn't paying attention to it.

"Oh, hey Derek," John says as he sees the wolf. 

"Sheriff." He nods at the older man.

John takes off his holster with his gun and places it on the coffee table before he flops down on the armchair with a heavy sigh. "Where's Stiles? Is there food?"

Derek gets up from the couch immediately. "He's out with Jackson, but I can make something for us if you'd like?"

John eyes him with a contemplative expression. "Sit down, son. I can make my own food."

"It's no bother, sir. I have to eat as well. I can cook for both of us." He turns around and starts for the kitchen. "Is turkey burgers okay?"

"Sure, why not," the man answers, but instead of waiting in the living room, he follows Derek to the kitchen. "You should call me John, Derek. After all, one day you're going to mate with my son, right?"

Derek's head snaps back angrily, and he frowns at the man sitting at the kitchen table. He knows that his eyes are flashing alpha red when the Sheriff looks surprised.

"I guess that means you two didn't resolve your issues yet?" John says as he crosses his arms over his chest and reclines back in the chair.

The alpha shakes his head as if to regain control, then he finishes pulling the ingredients from the fridge and placing them on the counter. He doesn't look at Stiles' father when he answers. "There's nothing to resolve. I don't know what he told you, but I know he is using his powers to make me think I'm attracted to him." 

"Hang on," John says, and Derek looks at him then. The man has a confused frown on his face. "What powers? You mean the memory manipulation?"

Derek huffs. "At least you're not pretending not to know. Yes, the memory manipulation." He lowers his gaze again and continues to make their food. "I'm not gay. I don't like men, never did. That's how I know."

"Son, I know that this must be very confusing to you, and I get why you would think that I really do." John sighs and Derek can hear the man getting up and walking towards him. "But Stiles isn't doing anything to you. He doesn't even know that he  _ can _ do that."

John is beside him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. He can only look back at the man with so much longing in his eyes; he misses this, a father figure reassuring him. "How do you know?" is all he says,

The Sheriff smiles fondly. "Because my wife told me everything about her powers, and she didn't want to teach or even tell Stiles all the things he can do before he was old enough. And she died when he was 10." The Sheriff pats him on the shoulder, moving away as he says, "Stiles would  _ never _ do that to anyone, anyway. Especially not to someone he cares so much about. He has a caring heart. My son would rather be forever alone than trick you into a relationship with him." 

Derek only nods silently. He didn't hear a lie in his words, but then again, how much does a parent really know about their children. Even so, the werewolf wants to believe it, desperately so, but his heart has suffered so much already. Can he really trust the margay with his heart?

-

When Stiles and Jackson get to the hospital, it's obvious there is no change to Lydia's condition; she's still in a coma, and her bite hasn't suddenly healed, nor is she showing signs of rejecting the bite. Stiles can tell that Jackson is worried, like he had hoped for some sign of improvement by now, and decides to attempt to cheer up his new pack member.

"Are you hungry?" he asks.

"I could eat," Jackson replies, looking at him curiously.

"Want to get out of here and get something to eat?" Stiles asks. "It's not like we can do anything to help here."

"Alright, let's go," Jackson agrees.

They end up at Stiles' favorite diner. Jackson had never been, and Stiles decided that had to be fixed. Stiles orders his usual of a double cheeseburger, curly fries, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup milkshake, and a Coke. Jackson orders rabbit food.

"How can you eat like that and be so skinny?" Jackson looks appalled. 

"I'm lithe, not skinny," Stiles says defensively, then lowers his voice, "And that's a perk of being a shifter. Prepare for your appetite to increase drastically. You'll have way more energy than you've ever had, so your body needs a lot of calories to replenish."

Jackson looks thoughtful. "Well, it wouldn't hurt you to go to the gym and get some muscle definition."

"I'm plenty strong," Stiles scoffs.

"Have it your way. I'm just saying; you're not ugly. With a little effort, you could be pulling hot girls," Jackson tells him.

If only Jackson knew that Stiles' body type is highly desirable to some gay men. He's done his research and watched a lot of porn.

"I didn't know you cared," Stiles replies, rolling his eyes.

Jackson smirks. "Or maybe it's a certain alpha werewolf you're trying to attract."

"W-what?" Stiles stutters, with his mouth full.

"I saw the way you were looking at him. And you looked positively jealous when he was licking at my bite wound," Jackson says, looking proud of himself.

Stiles puts his elbows on the table and rests his head on his hands, sighing in defeat. After a minute to gather his thoughts, he looks up at Jackson.

"Can you agree that what I tell you stays between us?" he asks.

Jackson nods.

"Okay, yes. I'm attracted to Derek, and there are feelings involved, but they're not returned," Stiles says sadly.

"Has he told you that?" Jackson asks, kinder than Stiles would've expected from the boy.

Stiles nods. "In painful detail."

Jackson looks thoughtful. "You should go to Jungle with Danny sometime. I'm sure he'd be your wingman."

"Thanks. I'll think about it," Stiles tells him.

After Jackson drops off Stiles at his house, he gets in his Jeep and drives to Scott's house to see if he's home. He can tell that he is when he pulls up in front of his house and shuts off the Jeep. Melissa is home too, so he knocks on the door to be polite.

"Hi Stiles," Melissa says when she opens the door.

"Just here to see Scott," Stiles says as he walks by her. 

When he gets to Scott's room, he's doing his homework, in typical Scott fashion of putting things off until the last minute. He looks up from his notebook when Stiles enters the room.

"What are you doing here?" Scott asks.

"Nice to see you too, Scott," Stiles jokes. "Seriously, though. I'm here to have a conversation with you. There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while, but my dad wouldn't let me. He probably still doesn't want me to tell you, but I'm going to tell you anyway, because I'd rather you find out from me than in some other situation."

"Okay Stiles, what it is?" Scott asks, serious now.

"So, my mom didn't die of some rare, undiscovered illness. She was poisoned with Azaleas—also known as margrave—most definitely by hunters," Stiles says, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

Scott scrunches up his face as if he's confused, which he probably is.

"She was a weremargay, and this type of were is extremely rare, and hunters hunt them aggressively, and that's why my dad made me promise not to tell anyone, even you." Stiles breathes before continuing. "I'm a weremargay too."

He waits anxiously for Scott's reply. 

A million emotions pass over Scott's face, before settling on understanding. Finally, Scott asks, "Can I see?"

Stiles is shocked by the response, but he does as his friend asks, letting his partial shift wash over him. He knows what he looks like. He has looked in the mirror so many times since he was a boy. Comparing himself with Talia, the woman who was so patient with him. Stiles knows that his eyes are bigger than werewolves, round and feline-like, though they’re not brown like in his full shift, but instead bright purple. Talia said that he was beautiful, even though he thought he was strange with his big eyes. His ears are round, and the fur covering them is yellow-ish with black spots. His claws and fangs are sharper than werewolves. 

The young wolf gets up and moves closer to him. Stiles can see how much Scott is bewildered with his shift.

"Your eyes are purple. Why?" Scott asks, frowning, after touching his ears and inspecting his hands and fangs. 

Stiles tells him how all weremargays have purple eyes, and that there is no pack structure, only families. 

"So who's in charge then? How does someone get turned without an alpha?" Scott asks curiously.

"Well, it's not like that, I guess. Parents act like parents, just like with humans, but other than that, there isn't anyone in charge," Stiles says with a chuckle. “And as for turning someone, any weremargay can turn someone with their bite, and that is also a motive for hunters to wipe us out like the plague.”

"Alright, so anything else?" Scott asks.

"I used to be able to shift completely into a margay before Mom died, but I haven't been able to do it since. She and Dad were my anchor. With just him now, I do okay with not shifting when I'm angry and all that, but I just can't focus enough to shift fully," Stiles explains sadly.

"That's so cool!" Scott says excitedly, "I'm sure you'll be able to do it again eventually." 

"Hopefully," Stiles says, "Oh! And the coolest part, margays are even faster and quieter than alpha werewolves!"

Scott laughs. "You, quiet?"

"Hey! I've been pretending to be a klutz basically my whole life! I could easily be first-line on lacrosse if Dad would let me, but he's scared someone will find out what I am, so he made me promise to tone it down, like a lot." Stiles defends himself. "Anyway, I know you didn't get to make the choice to become a werewolf, that Peter bit you against your will, but I was born a weremargay, and didn't get a choice in the matter either. Still, I've always loved being a supernatural creature, despite having to keep secrets. I get to be something that most people don't even know exists, and I love having extra abilities. I mean, I could turn into a margay! How cool is that?"

"That is pretty cool, but can you honestly say you would've chosen it given the choice?" Scott asks.

"Pros vs. cons, yes. No question," Stiles answers without hesitation.

"I just don't know if I'll like having to fight the wolf for control. Anyway, I'm glad you told me, especially since your dad didn't want you too," Scott says.

"Well, that's the problem right there, Scotty. The wolf should be a part of you, not something you have to submit to," Stiles says, but he's sure Scott doesn't understand, so he doesn't get into it further. "Now for the other reason I'm here. Since Derek is the alpha now, he's starting to expand his new pack. I've asked to be included, and I think you should join with me. I don't want you to become an omega and end up being killed by a hunter because you went rogue."

Scott scrunches up his nose. "Derek's kind of mean, though. And I've been doing pretty good on my own."

"Have you, though? Really? And do I need to reiterate that lone wolves eventually lose their minds?" Stiles asks and hopes it sinks into Scott's thick head. "Besides, when I say I've asked to be included in the pack, what I really mean is I'm going to help him become a good alpha. He won't be able to make me submit to him, so I can stand up to him if I think he's making a bad decision. Plus, his mom was an amazing alpha, and she raised him, so I have faith he can become one too," Stiles explains.

Scott looks contemplative. "Okay, but I'm not happy about it."

Stiles smiles. He'll wait until later to tell him Jackson is part of the pack, better not jinx it. "Alright, I should get home and let you finish your homework."

-

When Stiles gets home from Scott's house, he can hear his father's slow breaths, indicating he is asleep, and the werewolf's heartbeat coming from the guest bedroom, so he heads up to his own room. Derek calls out to him from the guest room as he passes by, so he stops in his doorway.

The wolf is sitting up on the bed looking in Stiles' direction. 

"Hey. Do you need something?" he asks.

"No. I just wanted to thank you for honoring your promise and giving me space," Derek says, looking at him strangely. The margay can't pinpoint exactly what, but something is off with the wolf. Derek doesn't look sad per se, but it's something along those lines.

Stiles nods, because he doesn't know if Derek would want him to ask about it, and the man clearly is grateful for the distance. "No problem. Jackson and I had a nice afternoon. Then I went to see Scott. Told him I'm a weremargay. He took it well."

"I'm happy to hear that," Derek tells him honestly.

Stiles smiles in reply, not sure what else there is to say at the moment. "Okay, I'm going to head to bed then. I've got school in the morning. 'Night."

"Goodnight," Derek replies with a nod. 

The wolf doesn't close his door this time, so Stiles takes it as a win, and when slumber catches up to him, he is smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Jackson getting along, who would’ve thought?
> 
> Oh, Derek, why won’t you let yourself be happy?
> 
> What do you think?
> 
> The last chapter of part one posts tomorrow!


	10. Lost and Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is—the final chapter of part one! 
> 
> Thanks again to everyone who has read, subscribed, commented, and left kudos! It really means a lot to us! <3

When Stiles notices Scott sniffing the air as Jackson enters the classroom, he knows that he can't put it off. Scott is smelling the same thing as he is; alpha and dried blood. 

"Derek bit Jackson!" his best friend whisper-screams from his seat.

The margay scratches his neck. "Um.. About that.."

"You knew." It’s not a question.

"Actually, I suggested it?" he says, grimacing.

"Stiles! Are you out of your mind?" his friend says louder than necessary, especially inside the classroom.

"Okay buddy, shapeshifter here remember." Stiles gestures to himself. "You don't need to speak that loud. And he wanted it, even after I explained the pros and cons of the bite.”

“But you used to hate his guts,” Scott says, baffled. “Why would you help him?”

“People aren’t always who you think they are, especially when you don’t actually know them, or get a chance to really talk to them,” Stiles replies, "Some people build a wall around themselves with hard features and harsh words.”

The young werewolf rolls his eyes. "Right because a spoiled, rich kid like him has a hard life and needs to build their walls." 

“You can never know what someone else is going through. Money and gifts don’t solve everything,” Stiles replies. “Besides, he’s not really that bad, once you get to know him. We’ve been talking lately, because of Lydia.”

Just then, Stiles feels and hears his phone vibrating in his pocket. Class hasn’t started yet, so he pulls it out to check the message. It’s from his dad. _ Oh shit. _Lydia is missing from her hospital room, and her window is wide open. She could have turned and might be running feral around the town.

“Scott, we have to go. Now,” Stiles says as he grabs his books and runs to the front of the classroom. He glances back to make sure Scott is following him. He’s not. "Scott, get your little werewolf ass out of the chair right now and help me find Lydia. She's missing!" He says that part much quieter. 

His friend rolls his eyes hard, but gets up to follow him. "Why do _ we _ have to go? Why not Derek? Isn't he the alpha?"

"Shut up and come on," he says, pulling Scott by his arm. Stiles hears Allison calling Scott from the school hall as they rush out of it. That can't be good. She won't let this go, and Scott will have to tell the girl _ something _ this time.

"Stiles! Allison is asking for me," Scott whines petulantly, "Call Derek to help you."

"There's no time, Scott. Come on," the margay says, not letting go of his friend. He smirks as Scott struggles to set himself free unsuccessfully. 

When they get outside the hospital, and Stiles finally lets his friend go, the first thing Scott does is complain. 

And then. "You are really fast and strong, huh?"

The weremargay smirks again. "Told you. Also since you're just a beta without a pack, I'm way stronger." He grins.

Scott seems put out with it but doesn't say anything, though Stiles can smell the envy. "Now what?"

"Now we find the open window and see if we can pick up her scent outside it,” Stiles explains as they walk around the perimeter. He spots it soon after. “There!”

When they get right below the window, they stop, and Stiles takes a few deep breaths. 

“Okay, do you smell that antiseptic and the scent of stale sweat?” Stiles asks. 

He waits for Scott to nod.

“We’re going to track that, and if it seems like she went in two directions at once, like maybe she backtracked or something, then I’ll go one way and you follow the other. Hopefully we won’t have to split up, though. Alright, let’s go. Remember, try to pay attention that scent,” Stiles says, and he takes off after the scent, leading the way.

It leads them to the edge of the preserve, which worries Stiles. It’s better than Lydia running through town, especially if she’s a feral werewolf, but she’s barefoot and could easily hurt herself in the preserve.

Stiles leads the way as fast as he can track the scent, but it’s getting fainter as they get deeper into the preserve. He halts Scott so he can listen, and then he hears it—the faint sound of a person humming. He thinks it could be Lydia, so he decides to abandon the scent trail to investigate and changes directions.

“What are you doing?” Scott asks.

“I hear someone humming. It could be Lydia, so I’m going to check it out,” Stiles explains. 

As they run through the preserve, and the louder the humming becomes, it seems more and more likely to Stiles that it is a woman. Finally they break through a clearing, and he sees Lydia. She’s naked and slowly walking toward what Stiles quickly realizes is the Hale house. The bite on her side is visible, so that rules out the werewolf theory, although the unknown element is more concerning. 

“Lydia,” Stiles says as he carefully approaches her. 

The girl looks up at him and seems to be snapping out of a trance. Then she looks around her, appearing very puzzled.

“Where am I?” The strawberry blonde looks down at herself. “And why am I naked?”

“Good question,” Stiles replies.

He quickly takes off his flannel shirt and helps her slide each of her arms into the sleeves. Lydia is so tiny that his flannel looks like a dress on her, a very short dress, but one nonetheless. He lets her button it herself, and takes a step back so she won't be too uncomfortable.

“You’ve been in the hospital for a few days, in a coma. Some type of wild animal bit you. You were found unconscious in your backyard,” Stiles says gently as he motions for her to follow him. “Come with us. We’ll help you get out of the preserve, and I’ll arrange for my dad to pick you up and take you back to the hospital.”

She looks at him curiously, but doesn’t argue. 

-

When the Sheriff arrives, Scott motions for Stiles to help Lydia into the back passenger’s side of the cruiser, taking the front seat for himself. Stiles gets in the back driver’s side and turns slightly to face Lydia.

“Lydia,” Stiles says gently, “do you remember anything about when you were attacked?”

A flash of something passes through Lydia's eyes and she nods. "I remember feelings." She closes her eyes as if remembering. "There was someone, and it felt like I knew them, but not really, and then a euphoric feeling pulsing through my veins. I've never felt something like that before." The girl opens her eyes again and looks at Stiles.

“And you’re sure it was a person?” Stiles asks.

"Yes. Something went wrong, I guess. I don't know, wrong isn't the word, but there was pain, a lot of it, and I think it was this." Lydia touches her side where the bite is, then she closes her eyes again and shakes her head a few times. "No, it was, it was a mistake. I forgave them." The girl lets a frustrated sound escape her mouth and bites her lip. 

"You weren't afraid? Didn't the person scare you?" Stiles asks thoughtfully.

She shakes her head again. "No, I wasn't afraid, I didn't need to be."

"How did you know?" He looks at her curiously.

She shrugs. "I just did, I felt it."

He nods. "Okay, what else?"

Lydia shrugs. "Nothing, but I feel like I'm missing something, something that was a part of me. I don't know. It's hard to explain."

-

When they arrive at the hospital, Derek is already there waiting for them. Stiles helps Lydia get out of the car, holding her arm and waist. She's very weak at the moment from walking around naked for God knows how long, so the girl doesn't protest. 

He nods to Derek on his way inside the hospital, and the man follows them. "Thanks for coming,” he mutters.

Upon entering the hospital, Stiles spots Allison and Chris Argent. He curses at the same time Scott says, "What are you doing here? You skipped class?" to his girlfriend.

"She's my best friend, Scott. What are _ you _doing skipping class? Did you two find her?" She whispers the last part confused.

Stiles grabs Scott by the arm and leads him to the side of the room, motioning for Allison to follow. When they’re far enough away from Chris, Stiles quietly says, “Yes, we found Lydia.”

“How?” Allison asks.

Scott looks at him. He sighs, tilting his head back and looking at the ceiling in frustration. 

“We can’t explain right now,” Stiles tells her. 

Allison looks pissed but nods her head, then walks back to her dad.

Scott groans. 

“I think I have to tell her, right?” the werewolf asks.

“Either that or break up with her,” Stiles replies.

“I’m not doing that, and I think if I don’t tell her, she’s going to break up with me,” Scott says, “Can I tell her?”

“It’s your choice. If you think you can trust her, but just remember, there’s a chance she will tell her family. Her family of _ hunters _." Stiles emphasizes the last word. "And you can’t out anyone else as a shifter,” he adds, seriously.

“I’m going to do it.” Scott decides. “But I think you should be there, too, for moral support.” His friends smiles that puppy dog smile that he knows will make Stiles give in.

“Fine. Is your mom working?” Stiles asks.

“Yeah,” Scott answers.

“Tell Allison to come to your house when we leave here. We’ll tell her then,” the margay tells him.

The young werewolf nods. “Oh! I didn’t want to say anything in front of Lydia, but she’s got to pay attention to you now, after you basically rescued her from walking around naked in the preserve indefinitely. Plus, Jackson dumped her, so she’s single. Oh! And when you get your shirt back, it’ll have her scent on it!”

Stiles does his best to appear excited. There’s no time to have _ that _ discussion with Scott, and he doesn't even know _ if _ he wants to tell Scott right now. Not when his mate doesn't want him back, and Stiles is fairly sure he won't want anyone else for a while. At least not until he knows that there is zero chance with Derek.

His reverie is interrupted by a very angry looking Derek speaking up to them. “You shouldn’t tell Allison anything. If she knows what you are, it won’t end well. You may not just get yourself killed, but your mother as well.”

Stiles sees it when Scott lunges for Derek and quickly gets between them. 

“Scott, look at me. Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly. I shouldn’t need to remind you what Allison’s aunt did to his family, but it’s your decision, and I’ll support it no matter what you decide,” Stiles says as calmly as he can. 

Scott backs off, but he glares at Derek. Stiles turns to look at the alpha.

“When we’re alone, I need you to tell me everything Lydia said to you after you found her,” Derek says to Stiles, but doesn't wait for an answer before he walks away.

-

While they wait for Allison to get to Scott’s house, Stiles is about ready to lose his patience with his best friend. There are only so many ways he can tell the werewolf that he only has two options: tell his girlfriend the truth, or let her break up with him.

Finally the doorbell rings, and Scott rushes to answer the door. The beta leads Allison into the living room and they sit down next to Stiles on the couch. The margay can feel the nervous energy rolling off of his friend.

After a few moments of silence, Scott looks like he can’t figure out where to start, so Stiles decides to get the ball rolling.

“Has your family told you anything about werewolves?” he asks.

Allison looks confused. “My aunt did tell me to look into the legend around our surname when she gave me this necklace.” She touches the pendant hanging around her neck. “Argent means ‘silver’ in French. Legend says our family hunted werewolves, but it’s just a legend.”

“Well…” the weremargay says awkwardly, nudging Scott with his foot. 

After a minute or two of awkward silence, Scott finally speaks. “The night before school started, Stiles dragged me to the preserve to look for half of a dead body.” He pauses and looks to Stiles with pleading eyes.

Stiles sighs, annoyed. “An alpha werewolf bit him, and now he’s a werewolf. Ta dah!” Stiles finishes, using jazz hands.

Scott's girlfriend’s expression shifts to angry. “I thought you were going to tell me the truth,” she says as she stands up.

“Allison, wait! I’ll prove it!” Scott says desperately.

The girl crosses her arms and gestures for her boyfriend to continue. 

Scott’s shift slowly takes over, changing his face. Allison gasps as she falls back onto the couch, her hands covering her mouth.

“And you can’t tell anyone, because your family actually are werewolf hunters,” Stiles tells her.

Allison looks to Stiles. “How do you know that?”

Stiles takes a deep breath before he accidentally explodes into an angry rant about what Kate did to his mate's family. “I just do. I also know there is a code that they’re supposed to follow. They’re only supposed to hunt werewolves that kill or injure a human. I also know that some hunters break that code.”

“Stiles!” Scott interrupts.

“Just remember that Scott didn’t choose this, and he’s working really hard to make sure he never hurts anyone,” Stiles says.

“Is that what happened to Lydia?” Allison asks. Her expression is hard to read.

Stiles nods. “But it affected her differently for some unknown reason. She didn’t turn, and usually that means the person rejects the bite and dies. Lydia’s an enigma.”

The margay can’t get a read on her emotion when she says, “My family being werewolf hunters actually explains a few things, now that I think about it.”

“Are you okay?” Scott asks his girlfriend.

“I need some time to think about everything,” Allison says as she stands up. She gives Stiles a small smile and turns toward the door.

Scott starts to get up to follow her, but Stiles grabs his friend’s arm to stop him. “Just let her go. It’s a lot to take in.”

“Do you think she’ll break up with me?” the werewolf asks.

“I really don’t know, but if it was meant to be, she won’t let a little fur stand in the way of teen romance,” Stiles says as he pats Scott on the shoulder before standing up. “Alright, I’d love to stay and hang with you, but I really need to get home now.”

-

Scott's words got to Derek, and he can't help but think that Stiles could be with the beautiful redhead at this moment as Derek waits for him to come home. And she's paying attention to him and listening to the boy‘s weirdly charming babbling. And maybe she's watching as Stiles’ pale hands flail around as he speaks. Maybe she wants Stiles’ hands all over her, just like Derek imagined on himself the other day. And the boy would gladly touch her all over her body, because he has a crush on her. The werewolf's eyes flash red at the image in his head. He snarls angrily, and the next thing he knows, he's changing into his alpha form and running to the woods like a mad man. 

He knows what this is; he knows what it means. _ He's jealous. _

The wolf runs between the trees, letting the wind clear his head as he breathes it in with deep breaths. His mind is swirling around with thoughts of Stiles. The wolf's paws touch the earth as he runs along the path. And he starts to feel lighter, even though he's so confused. Yes, he feels something, strong even, for Stiles. And Derek can't even say that the feline is making him feel it anymore, because Stiles is maintaining his distance, giving Derek space. And even though he kind of regrets it now, the wolf is so grateful for it. Because now he can say that he knows that the margay isn't manipulating his feelings. 

Derek's wolf is sure that the boy is his mate, and he wants to trust his instinct, he does, but he is terrified of himself. Deep down, he knows that this is different, that Stiles is not Kate, and his feelings for the boy are nothing like what he felt for Kate, or Paige, for that matter. _ Maybe he can trust Stiles instead? _ The margay seemed so sure when he told Derek they were mates; there was no faltering of his voice, no skip in his heartbeat. It was like Stiles was born to trust his own instincts. 

He breathes in the cold night air again and decides to get back to wait for Stiles, so that he can talk with the boy. Derek isn't about to jump on the margay or anything, even though he wants it, because he needs time; he needs to be able to trust himself in addition to Stiles. 

Derek hopes the weremargay will understand.

The werewolf runs back to the house, but when he finally arrives, his mate is already sleeping. He had been away longer than he realized. Derek looks at the time and sees it is late for Stiles, who has school in the morning. He sighs and goes to the bathroom to take a shower before he goes to sleep. He'll talk with the boy in the morning. 

-

Stiles is digging through his locker, trying to find the right book he needs for class, when someone grabs the back of his shirt and pulls him away from his locker. He turns his head and sees that it’s Jackson. The margay barely has a chance to slam his locker shut as he is pulled behind him at a fast pace.

“Jackson, what’s going on?” he asks, startled.

Jackson doesn’t say anything until he’s dragged Stiles into a bathroom. He lets go and turns to face him. Stiles can immediately see that the other teen is holding a tissue under his nose. It’s stained with something black, and it smells foul. _ Oh no. _

“Am I rejecting the bite?” Jackson asks, worriedly.

Stiles is shocked into silence as he stares at Jackson. He doesn’t actually know the details of what happens when someone rejects the bite, other than what Derek told him—that it was painful for Paige, but he does know that whatever is happening to Jackson should not be happening. It’s like what happened when his mom and Derek were poisoned.

“When did this start? Are you in pain?” Stiles asks, suddenly nervous.

“Last night, and I feel fine,” Jackson answers, "other than the constant stream of disgusting black stuff running out of my nose.

“Last night? Why didn’t you call me?” His voice rises in frustration and fear.

“It was dark. I just thought I had a nosebleed,” the other teen says, clearly getting anxious by Stiles' reaction. 

The weremargay nods, running a hand through his hair to calm himself a little. “Okay, since you’re not in pain, and you haven’t already died, I really don’t think this is you rejecting the bite. We’ll figure it out, whatever it is. Just try to remain calm.”

“Calm?” Jackson asks sarcastically, if a bit irritated “Black goo is draining out of me! I can’t sit through class all day like this!”

Stiles knows he can’t send Jackson to Derek like this. The alpha shouldn’t have to handle his beta possibly rejecting the bite by himself. He quickly thinks of a plan that will hopefully work. Then he puts a hand on Jackson’s shoulder before saying as calmly as possible, “Go home. Don’t leave your house. Text me if anything changes. I really can't miss school again today, because I skipped yesterday to find Lydia, but if things get worse, I’ll leave. Otherwise, I will pick you up after school, and then we’ll talk to Derek.”

Jackson looks unsure, but finally nods.

The rest of the school day passes excruciatingly slow, and Stiles has trouble focusing in class between worrying about what is happening to Jackson as well as what will happen to Derek if the other teen is actually rejecting the bite. And if he’s not, _ what the hell is happening to him? _

-

Derek is pacing, alright? He's been fucking pacing for hours. He can't help it. His whole body is buzzing with the need to be close to Stiles, to touch the boy and hold him close. To show his mate that _ yes _, Derek wants him. And he doesn't know how he's going to get through the day until Stiles gets home from school. 

The werewolf had trouble sleeping after he got home and saw that Stiles was already sleeping, because he couldn't stop thinking that maybe he was too late, and the margay had chosen Lydia. Which means he didn't get to see Stiles before the boy left for school because he was still sleeping. 

So, yes pacing. In the, thankfully empty, living room. He feels like an animal in the zoo, pacing inside of his cage, watching the humans carefully, ready to pounce. But just like in the zoo, he cannot pounce. 

He pauses when he hears Stiles’ Jeep pull up to the house, and then he rushes to the door, leaning against it to resist the urge to fling it open before his mate even has a chance to park. He takes a deep breath and tries to focus on Stiles. He hears his voice. _ Why is Stiles talking? Who is that he’s talking to? Why is there someone with him? _ Derek growls in frustration. It was supposed to be just Stiles, coming home alone. His plan was for him to have Stiles alone, to himself, finally!

Derek takes a step away from the door, then another, as he hears Stiles and the other person walking up the porch steps. He takes another step back and uses his anger at the situation to resist the urge to shift. The door opens, and he sees Jackson with Stiles. The new beta looks tired, defeated even, and the weremargay looks concerned. So Derek does what he does best, takes a deep breath, and pretends he's okay. He waited the whole day for Stiles; he can wait awhile more.

"What happened?" he asks, looking from Jackson to Stiles and back again.

“Something weird is happening to him,” the weremargay says.

Stiles closes the door and motions for them to go into the living room. 

"What is it?" Derek presses as he smells something awfully familiar, but he can't really remember what it is.

Jackson flops down on the recliner, and Stiles sits on the other couch, rubbing a hand all up from his face to his hair, then dropping it. "Can you sit? You're making me nervous."

"_ I'm _ making _ you _ nervous? Just tell me!" Okay, that was not what Derek wanted to say or _ sound _ like, but _ damnit, _ he was already on edge before. He glares at Stiles.

The margay frowns up at him, but it's Jackson who answers. "There's some black goo running out of my orifices, but it's not all the time; right now, it’s stopped. Though I couldn't sleep much at night while I was coughing it up."

The werewolf's head snaps up to look at Jackson, and by the look of fear in the new beta's face, he's sure his own features must look terrified. 

Stiles must smell the dread wafting off of him, because he quickly says in a calming tone, as if he was trying to calm down an injured kid, “I don’t think he’s rejecting the bite, Der. He’s not in any pain. It’s something else,”

Derek nods, and leans down to look at Jackson's face up close, sniffs him a little. The second the alpha's hand touches his skin, the boy visibly relaxes and closes his eyes. The werewolf tilts his head to the side, watching Jackson. "I don't understand. It smells like Paige did, but it's not the same thing." He looks back at Stiles, and his mate is already looking in his direction, cataloging the whole exchange for sure while thinking of possible scenarios. His mate is good like that. 

The margay shrugs. "I don't know. Lydia didn't turn either, but she also didn't heal. Jackson did."

The wolf nods again, pulling his hand back from his beta, but not going away. "You should stay here where we can watch you for any changes."

When Jackson doesn't protest, Stiles stands up grinning. "Awesome! Puppy pile!"

Jackson scowls. "What the hell is a puppy pile? And it better not be what I'm thinking it is. I am not a dog!"

Stiles is still grinning. "Oh, you know you want it Jack Jack. Snuggle up with your alpha, feel safe, and cared for."

Derek smiles; the beta scowls harder, but doesn't deny. Stiles clearly takes it as a win when he says. "Okay, eat first. I'm starving. Come on, let's go to the kitchen."

The rest of the day rolls fairly normal, only Derek flinches away from Stiles everytime the boy gets too close to almost touch him. He's so on edge around his margay that the wolf doesn't know what to do. He desperately wants to talk with Stiles, tell him that he wants to try, but he can't do that in front of Jackson. The weremargay makes them dinner while they help here and there in the kitchen. Then the sheriff arrives and they all eat together and fill the man in on what is happening to Jackson. John seems concerned, but he, like Derek, can't do anything about it, just wait. The older man doesn't protest when Stiles says Jackson will sleep there, and they will probably share Derek's bed because it's bigger to fit the three of them. The sheriff refuses very quickly when his son invites him to go to bed with them; it's kind of funny. They watch tv with Stiles' dad for a while in the living room before the boys go to the weremargay's bedroom to do homework.

It's not until later that Jackson is in his bed sleeping—his nose buried into Derek's pillow—that he gets to be alone with Stiles. The boy is finishing changing into his sleeping clothes when Derek stops in front of his bedroom door, hands inside his pockets. 

"He's sleeping already, guy was exhausted. Probably didn't sleep since yesterday," Stiles says as he rounds the bed and leans down to grab his pillow. With the pillow in hand, he moves towards Derek, but stops a few steps away looking confused. "What's wrong?"

The werewolf shakes his head, looking at the ground. "I…" He looks up at Stiles then averts his eyes. "I just... I need you to know that I'm sorry for how I reacted when you told me that I’m your mate, but I'm also grateful that you let me think, that you let me see for myself."

Derek chances a glance at his mate, who is smiling fondly at him, his face doesn't give away the quickening of his beating heart. The boy is clearly nervous though. "It's fine, Der. I know you have difficulty trusting others. It's understandable." 

The wolf shakes his head again. "I want to. I want to trust you," he says, feeling that overwhelming need for Stiles spike up more. He inhales and takes his hands out of his pockets, stretching his right to Stiles. "Can I touch you? Just… touch, I mean you don't need to..."

Stiles huffs a little laugh. "Yeah... I want that," the boy says, stepping closer to meet Derek's hand.

His hand touches his mate's arm, closing it around hot flesh, and he feels a surge of feelings course through him. Want, need, mutual desire making him shudder all over his body. His wolf snarls fiercely; Derek can't do anything but let it take the wheel. He opens his eyes, feeling them glow red; Stiles' are matching his own with purple. 

Derek pulls Stiles by the arm, turning him around and pinning his mate against the wall. The boy gasps as the wolf noses at his throat. Derek growls at the smell of arousal hitting him full force. He can't help himself and kisses Stiles' mouth passionately. The margay gives back just as good, placing his hands on Derek's neck, pulling him in more. Derek’s hands travel down to his mate's waist. He holds on tightly, grinding his body against Stiles', feeling their erections together, but the wolf doesn't feel like it's enough. He slides his hands further down Stiles' body, looking for leverage, clutches the back of his mate's thighs, pulling him up. Stiles promptly closes his legs around Derek's waist, and _ yes, _ there's a perfect fit. Their groins join like a puzzle piece. The werewolf rolls his hips, feeling both their cocks getting even harder as they grind and kiss desperately. One of Stiles' hands clutches Derek's hair and the other claws at his back. Moans are swallowed by their mouths as neither of them want to stop kissing. The feel of Stiles' mouth and ass and cock making Derek crazy. _ He can't think _ of anything else other than Stiles and _ them _ together. Taking, tasting. 

"If you're going to do that, for Christ's sake close the door." The Sheriff's voice sounds beside them. 

Derek abruptly let's Stiles go and steps back, a look of horror in his face.

"Aw." The weremargay whines as he stands up from the ground, where he landed when the wolf let him go without warning. 

"I know you two are mates, and I wouldn't dream of getting in your way, but I'm still the Sheriff, and Stiles is still sixteen. So, door." John pats the door for emphasis. "Closed, always, and keep the noise next to nothing. I don't want to hear anything, and not just because I'm an officer of the law, but no father needs to listen to the noises you two were making." Stiles' father finishes with a grimace, then goes away wishing them good night. 

Derek is still mortified, looking at the spot John was in a few seconds ago, blinking, when Stiles snaps his fingers in front of his face. "You okay, big guy?" 

"I'm sorry," he says, focusing his eyes back on his mate. "We should talk. I shouldn't have done that."

Stiles smiles. "Shut up, Der. You're ruining the moment." The margay gets closer, and cups his cheek. "Besides, we did talk. You confessed that I was right, and we are mates, and apologized for your behavior. AND I forgave you." The boy grins. 

He can't help but reciprocate. "Is that what that was?" His mate nods at Derek's words. "I don't…"

The werewolf's head snaps up, and he steps away from Stiles to walk to the open door. From there he has a perfect view of his own room. He freezes. 

At his distress, Stiles runs to him and looks in the same direction. "Holy sh… What the HELL IS THAT?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we ended on a cliffhanger! :D
> 
> So, lots of loose ends left to tie up in part two, which we are working on, and at this point don’t have a good estimate of when we’ll start posting. We want to finish it before we start to post. Make sure to subscribe to the series so you’ll know when we start posting it. We have a lot of plans for part two. It will have an Explicit rating. 
> 
> We have a teaser of a missing scene from part one from another character’s POV that we’ll post at some point before we start posting part two.
> 
> And, just FYI... Kha’s first language isn’t English. She taught herself! How awesome is that? We had so much fun writing this together!


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